Barriers to Abortion in the Autonomy-Based Danish Legal Model

Eur J Health Law. 2021 Sep 29:1-16. doi: 10.1163/15718093-bja10054. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

In 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment 22 on the right to sexual and reproductive health, which affirmed that states are obliged to adopt "appropriate legislative measures" to achieve the full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. It affirmed that the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health and recognizes abortion services as a component part of the right to health. While a liberal legislation is in itself a step towards the realization of this obligation, in this article we explore a number of potential barriers to abortion access in an autonomy-based legal model using the Danish legal model as the case study.