abortion in Iceland
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Abortion in Iceland is legal on request until the end of the 22nd week of pregnancy.{{Cite web |last=Elliott |first=Alexander |date=2019-05-14 |title=Abortion bill passed by parliament - RÚV.is |url=https://www.ruv.is/english/abortion-bill-passed-by-parliament/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=RÚV}} The abortion rate in Iceland is relatively high, in comparison to other Nordic countries.
Legislation
Abortion in Iceland was legalized on a number of grounds on 22 May 1975.[http://www.althingi.is/lagas/nuna/1975025.html Lög um ráðgjöf og fræðslu varðandi kynlíf og barneignir og um fóstureyðingar og ófrjósemisaðgerðir] {{in lang|is}} Although the 1975 law did not allow abortions to be performed on request, they were allowed in various medical and social circumstances.{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/iceland.doc|title=Abortion in Iceland|publisher=United Nations|access-date=6 September 2014}} Medically, an abortion was lawful if a pregnancy threatened a woman's physical or mental health, if the fetus had a serious congenital defect, or if the woman was deemed incapable of caring for a child because of her age or mental disability. Social grounds for allowing abortion included: if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest; if the woman had had several children already with only brief periods between pregnancies; if the woman lived in a particularly difficult family situation; or if the woman's or her partner's ill health prevented them from being able to care for a child.
All Icelandic women who undergo abortions are required to receive counselling both prior to and following the procedure, including education about contraceptive use.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1869009.stm|publisher=BBC|date=2 June 2002|title=Europe's terms for terminations|access-date=6 September 2014}}
The performance of an unlawful abortion carries a sentence of between five and seven years' imprisonment.
In April 2017, the Government proposed making changes to abortion legislation in Iceland so that abortion would no longer be described as "foetus elimination" (fóstureyðing), but would instead be described as "pregnancy interruption" (þungunarrof).{{Cite news|url=http://www.visir.is/g/2017170229206/fostureydingar-verdi-thungunarrof|title=Fóstureyðingar verði þungunarrof - Vísir|work=visir.is|access-date=2017-04-09}}
In May 2019, the Icelandic parliament legalized abortion on demand until week 22 of the pregnancy.{{Cite web|url=https://kjarninn.is/frettir/2019-05-13-thungunarrofsfrumvarpid-samthykkt/|title=Þungunarrofsfrumvarpið samþykkt|date=2019-05-13|website=Kjarninn|language=is|access-date=2019-05-13}} Previously, abortion was only legal if performed within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, unless a pregnancy threatened the woman's health or the fetus had a deformity.
Statistics
A study published in 2003 found that over the period of 1976–1999, the abortion rate in Iceland rose by 133%, increasing from 9.4 abortions per 1000 women to 21.9 per 1000 women, with the highest regional rates in the Reykjavík area. The authors noted that Iceland's abortion rate was higher than in any of the other Nordic countries, a trend which they attributed to the limited sex education, early initiation of sexual activity, and less effective use of contraception in Iceland.{{cite journal|title=Trends in teenage fertility, abortion, and pregnancy rates in Iceland compared with other Nordic countries, 1976–99|journal=Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica|year=2003|author1=Bender S|author2= Geirsson RT|author3= Kosunen E|volume=82|issue=1|pages=38–47|pmid=12580838|doi=10.1034/j.1600-0412.2003.820107.x|s2cid=40811128|doi-access=free}}
{{as of|2010}}, the abortion rate in Iceland was 14.5 abortions per 1000 women aged 15–44 years.{{Cite web | title = World Abortion Policies 2013 | publisher = United Nations | year = 2013 | url = https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/policy/world-abortion-policies-2013.shtml | access-date = 3 March 2014 }}
Landspítali offers pre-natal screening for chromosomal anomalies. There are reports that the high rate of pregnancy termination in response to positive results has led to the near-eradication of people with Down syndrome in Iceland.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland/ |work=CBS News |quote=Since pre-natal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women - close to 100 percent - who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy. |title="What kind of society do you want to live in?": Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing |date=August 15, 2017}} But this is also explained as misinterpretation of statistics on a very small number of births, and explained that a more accurate difference is only about 10% less Down, compared to other European countries.{{cite news |title="Let's Talk about Iceland": Iceland and Down Syndrome: what the numbers really say |url=https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2017/11/28/lets-talk-about-iceland/ |quote=In the last ten years for which the WHO provides data, Iceland's rate was about 10% lower than the EU average. Scientifically, such a small difference can be considered random. |access-date=9 February 2019 |publisher=Abortion Rights Campaign |date=November 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519212239/https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2017/11/28/lets-talk-about-iceland/ |archive-date= 19 May 2022 |url-status=dead}}