Photo via bibiphoto / Shutterstock.com
Advertisement
You may immediately think this astounding rate is indicative of a country that fiercely values female empowerment and independence—and according to Øjvind Lidegaard, Chairman Professor in Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University of Copenhagen, that may very well be the case if you consider the stance taken by medical professionals. "I think that Danish women are less sentimental about aborting malformed fetuses partly because that view is supported by professional medical staff," he tells me. "Recommending abortions isn't an obligation but we give very realistic prognoses. 80% percent of children with malformations end up in an institution and the majority of their families go through many problems. We give parents realistic expectations about future problems and generally, women carrying fetuses with severe malformations are recommended to terminate the pregnancy.""I think that Danish women are less sentimental about aborting malformed fetuses partly because that view is supported by professional medical staff" - Øjvind Lidegaard
Advertisement
Advertisement
The thing is, opening up that Pandora's box of risk assessment and invasive testing isn't unique to Denmark. Britain and Sweden offer all of their pregnant women the same kind of combined testing, and Norway does for women over 38 years old. So, what's going on in Denmark that makes women act on these risk assessments and diagnoses a whole lot more than women elsewhere? Perhaps it all comes back to Denmark's fierce respect for individual independence—that nationally-cemented value that keeps the country a fantastically progressive, judgment-free environment where women can do what they want simply because they want to. "I cannot speak for all women, but I think a lot of Danish women would think children with Down syndrome are very sweet and will grow up to be sweet adults… but they wouldn't choose to have one," says Bondo. "And they wouldn't lose public empathy or anything for it. There is no stigma on a woman who chooses an abortion."Individual independence coupled with the right to choose is one thing—and one that I am unquestionably, 100% behind. Yet I can't help but wonder if this particular abortion rate would still be as high if the medical path a pregnant woman in Denmark undergoes was just a tiny bit different. Because if anything, it's a noticeable juxtaposition: professionals are telling women general presumptions about the quality of life their child could have, and using systematically-driven statistics as validation—but a pregnancy is hardly general or systematic. A pregnancy is very much an individual experience that's largely emotionally driven. Addressing that individual and the emotional with the general and the systematic may fill some gaps, but perhaps it opens up even more for error—whether through lack of empathy, understanding or both.Of course, there are some barriers to abortions in Denmark. If a woman wants an abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, for example, she has to go through a committee of three people who evaluate her case—a gynaecologist, a psychiatrist and a lawyer. Yet in a way, those barriers are an archaic illusion: 94% of women who want an abortion get approved anyways—and even if they don't, there are other options they can take to abort their child, especially online. "You can buy pills for abortions online in every country", says Lidegaard. "For that same reason, the number of induced abortions in countries with more restrictive abortion policies is basically the same as in Denmark. We are within the 21st century now and we're working like we're still in the 20th century. It's outdated."So in a way, it makes sense that the abortion debate basically doesn't exist in Denmark: if we're at the point where we can buy pills online to get abortions, the debate is kind of moot. Yet abandoning the debate doesn't mean the dilemmas will disappear, too. Despite the medical advancements and social progress taking place in many countries around the world, it's still an important conversation to have – also in Denmark."[…] I think a lot of Danish women would think children with Down syndrome are very sweet and will grow up to be sweet adults… but they wouldn't choose to have one." - Lillian Bondo