Denmark’s government will not wait for two unpublished reports on legal responsibility in the Greenland spiral case before parliament decides on compensation. Health Minister Ida Auken says the affected women have already waited long enough.
DR reports that Auken, who is minister for health and church affairs, made the statement to Ritzau on Friday. It came after the first reading of the government’s compensation bill in Folketinget.
The bill would grant 300,000 kroner to Greenlandic women who had an IUD inserted without consent or without sufficient consent. Folketinget is handling the proposal during August 2026, and the legislative process is due to conclude on 27 August.
At the same time, the Greenlandic government has held two reports for several months. According to DR, the reports examine questions including Denmark’s legal responsibility in the case. They have still not been published.
Lawyer Jonas Christoffersen, one of the authors behind one of the reports, has urged Folketinget to postpone the legislative process until the documents are public. His call was reported by Berlingske. Auken rejected the idea when asked about it by Ritzau.
The minister said the government’s goal is to compensate the women, and that the decision rests on an existing, extensive account of the case. As reported by DR, she argued that acting differently could risk a markedly longer delay. In her view, the sensible course is to pass the law now and pay out the compensation.
In a written reply to Berlingske, the Department for Children, Youth, Justice and Gender Equality in Nuuk stated that the two reports will be published at the end of August 2026. That would place their release only days after the parliamentary process on the compensation bill is completed.
Minister open to revisiting the case
Auken did not rule out that Folketinget could still postpone the legislative treatment. She also said she is not dismissive of having to address the matter again. That would apply if the reports point to a broader responsibility, more affected women, or more serious violations.
According to DR, a possible postponement on those grounds was not part of the debate during Friday’s first reading. The Greenlandic government has not published either report at the time of the first reading.
The compensation bill is part of the wider handling of the spiral case, in which Greenlandic women and girls had contraceptive devices fitted without proper consent. DR’s report focuses on the timing dispute between the parliamentary schedule and the pending reports on legal responsibility.
