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The Faroe Islands’ parliament voted Thursday to decriminalize abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy, overturning decades of law that banned abortion in most cases.
Previous legislation only allowed abortion in certain circumstances, such as rape, incest or risk to the mother’s health, meaning the autonomous Danish territory had one of the strictest abortion policies in Europe.
The decision was finalized after intense parliamentary debate, with MPs voting in favor of the reforms by a slim margin of 17 to 16.
“This is truly a historic day for the Faroe Islands,” said Ingilín Didriksen Strømm, one of the four MPs who proposed the bill.
“This change finally affirms Faroese women’s autonomy over their own bodies,” Strom told the BBC.
She added: “It guarantees access to safe health care and protects our freedom to make decisions about our lives without fear, shame or criminalization.”
New legislation in the Faroe Islands, located between Scotland and Norway, is expected to come into force on July 1 next year, replacing a law dating back to 1956.
Under the legislation, abortions can only be performed in exceptional circumstances – which also include cases where there are serious fetal health problems or where the woman is deemed “unfit” to care for the child.
Before an abortion is granted, a woman’s “unfitness” is judged first by a GP and then by a second medical authority. Both the woman and the doctor risk jail time if the conditions are not met.
Pro-life activists in the Faroe Islands argue the legislation is outdated and infringes on women’s rights.
“This is a big change,” Bjørt Lind of the pro-abortion campaign group Fritt Val told Danish newspaper Politico.
“Abortion has always been a hidden taboo in Faroese society. When we started working, no one dared to talk about it. Things are getting better,” she said. “But it’s still a huge challenge.”
Amnesty International’s Faroe Islands branch said in a statement to the BBC: “After years of hard work, we finally have a law that respects the right of women and all pregnant women to have a safe and legal abortion up to 12 weeks.”
“This is a major advance for human rights, bodily autonomy and the right to safe abortion,” it added. “Faroese women do not have to travel to expensive foreign countries to have abortions.”
With abortion access limited in the Faroe Islands, campaign groups say women often have to travel to Denmark for the procedure.
Danish law has allowed abortion up to 12 weeks since 1973, and in June this year the law was revised to extend the time for termination of pregnancy on request to 18 weeks.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, some 43 countries in Europe allow “abortion on request” in early pregnancy. Only five countries – Andorra, Malta, Liechtenstein, Poland and Monaco – maintain highly restrictive laws.
Opponents of changing the law in the Faroe Islands argue that the rights of the unborn should be protected.
Erhard Joensen, a lawmaker who voted against Thursday’s bill, told Danish state broadcaster DR that he respected the result but did not think there was much support for the new law.
“I think we’re going to see some people try to turn things around,” he said.
This remote archipelago is home to approximately 56,000 people who speak the Faroese language and have a unique cultural identity.
Faroese society is considered relatively conservative compared to other Nordic countries, with more than three-quarters of the population professing the Lutheran church.
Previous attempts to relax abortion laws have failed. More recently, last May, an almost identical bill resulted in a tie, failing to obtain the majority needed for passage in the Faroese parliament.
