Abortion in Norway - History - Early Activism

Early Activism

An important milestone for the issue of abortion on demand came on January 15, 1915, when Katti Anker Møller gave a speech in Kristiania calling for legalized abortion on demand. She said that "the basis for all freedom is the governance over one's own body and everything that is in it. The opposite is the condition of a slave." ("Grundlaget for al frihet er rådighet over egen krop og hvad i den er. Det motsatte er en slaves tilstand")

In the period between 1920 and 1929, about 100 individuals were sentenced for illegal abortion. In one of Oslo's largest hospitals, 82 women died as a result of illegal abortions, and 3791 women were treated for injuries sustained under these procedures.

In 1934, the ministry of Justice named a committee to start work on new legislation on abortion, headed by Katti Anker Møller's daughter Tove Mohr. The following year, a campaign opposing the committee's work gathered 207,000 signatures. The government tabled the committee's work.

The political debate continued on the issue, though World War II put other priorities in the public discourse. During the German occupation, the maternal hygiene offices pioneered by Katti Anker Møller were shut down and all their materials put to the fire.

When the maternal hygiene offices reopened in 1950, abortion counseling became one of their main services. An estimated 3,000 legal abortions and 7,000 - 10,000 illegal abortions were performed each year in the 1950s. In 1956, the prevalence of illegal abortions reached such levels that a council on penal law recommended stiffer penalties for illegal abortions.