Norway proposes extending abortion rights to 18 weeks

When a group of pro-abortion activists protested against restrictions on access to abortion. [AFP]

Norway's centre-left government on Friday proposed extending the legal limit for abortion from 12 to 18 weeks, a move that comes as some countries have restricted access to abortion.

The proposed legislation is aimed at securing "the pregnant woman's right to self-determination and safeguard(ing) the pregnant woman's rights," the government said.

The proposal has however split the minority government, made up of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store's Labour Party and the Centre Party.

The Centre Party said that while it was in favour of some of the updates included in the proposed legislation, "after an overall assessment we have come to the conclusion that we want to retain the current 12-week limit for the right to self-determined abortion."

The bill needs 85 of 169 votes to pass, and Norwegian news agency NTB reported that at least 80 MPs were so far expected to support the legislation.

The government statement said the governing parties were "free to seek a majority" in parliament for their positions for or against the bill.

The proposal also says pregnant women would have the right to decide about reducing the number of fetuses -- which would be defined as abortion -- up to week 18, "within the limits of what is medically justifiable".

Norway's abortion law, which dates from 1978, "has played an important role for women across the country for many decades, and my goal is that the new abortion law will stand for many decades to come," Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre said.

Denmark in May also announced plans to extend the legal limit from 12 to 18 weeks. If adopted, the new rules would come into force on June 1, 2025.

In Western Europe, the countries that allow the latest abortions are Britain and the Netherlands at 24 weeks and Iceland at 22 weeks.

The US Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the nationwide right to abortions, and in July Poland's parliament rejected a bill to decriminalise assisting abortion in the traditionally Catholic country.