Preliminary figures show that abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy in Denmark rose by about 47 percent in the first year after the limit for free abortion was raised to 18 weeks.
DR reports that more pregnant women have had an abortion later in pregnancy since the new rules took effect. The figures are preliminary and were extracted by Sundhedsdatastyrelsen for the news agency Ritzau.
In the 12 months before the change, from June 2024 to May 2025, there were 16,615 induced abortions in Denmark. Of those, 364 were performed between 12 and 17 completed weeks of pregnancy.
In the first year under the new rules, from June 2025 to May 2026, there were 16,575 induced abortions, of which 537 took place after the 12th week. Politiken, which carries the same Ritzau-based figures, notes that the overall number of abortions is stable while later abortions have risen.
The limit for free abortion was raised from the end of week 12 to the end of week 18 on June 1, 2025. Before that, abortions after week 12 required approval from a regional abortion committee, an abortsamråd, on medical or social grounds.
According to the Danish Health Authority’s updated guideline from June 2025, the change also lowered the age of self-consent, so women aged 15 to 17 can consent themselves. A new national body, the Abortnævn, handles applications for abortions after week 18.
Doctor points to first-trimester scan
Olav Bennike Bjørn Petersen, professor and chief physician at the department of gynecology, fertility and obstetrics at Rigshospitalet, tells DR that the figures are not surprising. He describes the small shifts in timing as expected.
He points out that one argument for raising the limit was that the old deadline fell in the middle of the period when the first-trimester scan is offered. The scan is offered to all pregnant women in Denmark between weeks 11 and 14.
The scan checks for the most serious malformations and estimates the probability of common chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome. Petersen reads the new numbers as a sign that more women wait for the scan before deciding.
He stresses that the large majority still have an abortion before week 12, and he does not expect the new rules to change that. Per DR, about three-quarters of all induced abortions between June 2025 and May 2026 happened before week 8, and nearly 90 percent before week 12.
TV2 Østjylland also reported the increase, highlighting the rise from 364 to 537 abortions after week 12. Both DR and Politiken describe Sundhedsdatastyrelsen’s data as preliminary, meaning the numbers may be adjusted.
The reporting comes as the first full year of data under the new rules becomes available. Sundhedsdatastyrelsen delivered figures covering June 2025 to May 2026 to Ritzau, allowing a comparison with the year before the change.
