Den svenska aborthistorien - Från brott till grundlagsskyddad rättighet?
(2023) LAGF03 20231Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- När Högsta domstolen i USA förra året avskaffade det konstitutionella skyddet för abort genom att undanröja domen Roe v. Wade från 1973, så reagerade flera svenska politiker genom att snabbt ta ställning för att grundlagsskydda aborträtten i Sverige.
Grundlagsdebatten hade tills dess aldrig handlat om aborträtten och abortdebatten hade likaledes inte handlat om grundlagsfrågor. Den här uppsatsen försöker därför besvara frågan om aborträtten hör hemma i regeringsformens rättighetskatalog. Svaret söks genom att dels studera aborternas historia i ett rättsutvecklingsperspektiv, dels genom att undersöka hur rättighetskatalogen kom till och hur debatten fördes då.
Undersökningen visar framförallt att aborträttens historia är kvinnosynens... (More) - När Högsta domstolen i USA förra året avskaffade det konstitutionella skyddet för abort genom att undanröja domen Roe v. Wade från 1973, så reagerade flera svenska politiker genom att snabbt ta ställning för att grundlagsskydda aborträtten i Sverige.
Grundlagsdebatten hade tills dess aldrig handlat om aborträtten och abortdebatten hade likaledes inte handlat om grundlagsfrågor. Den här uppsatsen försöker därför besvara frågan om aborträtten hör hemma i regeringsformens rättighetskatalog. Svaret söks genom att dels studera aborternas historia i ett rättsutvecklingsperspektiv, dels genom att undersöka hur rättighetskatalogen kom till och hur debatten fördes då.
Undersökningen visar framförallt att aborträttens historia är kvinnosynens historia med en tydlig brytpunkt på 1960-talet. Det var en period av omvälvande liberalisering och samhällsdebatten började handla om kvinnans autonomi. Samhällets perspektiv vändes i princip från kollektivet till individen. Kvinnan fick ökat självbestämmande och till slut rätten att
själva bestämma över sin kropp.
Skyddet för grundläggande fri- och rättigheter var i Sverige fram till 1970- talets grundlagsreformer svagt. I den mycket långa debatten som ledde dit talades det om att skydda okontroversiella principer som var djupt förankrade i samhället. Synsättet att det var omistliga värden som skulle få plats i rättighetskatalogen etablerades.
Trots att 1970-talets debatt i grundlagsfrågan och abortfrågan var parallella så var frågan om ett grundlagsskydd för den senare aldrig aktuell. Tiden var inte mogen för det. Aborträtten betraktades ännu inte allmänt som ett omistligt värde. Idag är däremot aborträtten välförankrad i det allmänna rättsmedvetandet sedan lång tid och det finns både förutsättningar och goda skäl för att införa rättigheten i regeringsformen. (Less) - Abstract
- When the Supreme Court of the United States abolished the constitutional protection for abortion last year by overturning the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, several Swedish politicians reacted by quickly taking a stand to constitutionally protect the right to abortion in Sweden.
Until then, the constitutional debate had never been about abortion rights, and the abortion debate had likewise not been about constitutional issues. This essay attempts to answer the question of whether the right to abortion belongs in the catalogue of rights in the Swedish Constitution. The answer is sought by studying the history of abortion from a legal development perspective and by examining how the catalogue of rights came about and how the debate was... (More) - When the Supreme Court of the United States abolished the constitutional protection for abortion last year by overturning the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, several Swedish politicians reacted by quickly taking a stand to constitutionally protect the right to abortion in Sweden.
Until then, the constitutional debate had never been about abortion rights, and the abortion debate had likewise not been about constitutional issues. This essay attempts to answer the question of whether the right to abortion belongs in the catalogue of rights in the Swedish Constitution. The answer is sought by studying the history of abortion from a legal development perspective and by examining how the catalogue of rights came about and how the debate was conducted at the time.
The study primarily shows that the history of the right to abortion is the history of societal views on women, with a clear turning point in the 1960s. It was a period of transformative liberalization, and the public debate began to focus on women's autonomy. The societal perspective shifted from the collective to the individual. Women gained increased self-determination and, eventually, the right to make decisions about their own bodies.
The protection of fundamental freedoms and rights in Sweden was weak until the constitutional reforms of the 1970s. The lengthy debate leading up to those reforms focused on protecting uncontroversial principles that were deeply rooted in society. The view that indispensable values should be included in the catalogue of rights was established.
Although the 1970s debate on constitutional issues and abortion were parallel, the question of constitutional protection for the latter was never raised. Society was not ready for that. The right to abortion was not yet generally regarded as an indispensable value. Today, however, the right to abortion has been firmly established in the public legal consciousness for a long time, it meets the requirements to be included in the Swedish Constitution and there are good reasons for introducing it. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9116118
- author
- Åstrand, Clara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- rättsvetenskap, statsrätt, rättshistoria, abort, grundlag, regeringsformen, rättigheter
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9116118
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-29 13:44:28
- date last changed
- 2023-06-29 13:44:28
@misc{9116118,
abstract = {{When the Supreme Court of the United States abolished the constitutional protection for abortion last year by overturning the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, several Swedish politicians reacted by quickly taking a stand to constitutionally protect the right to abortion in Sweden.
Until then, the constitutional debate had never been about abortion rights, and the abortion debate had likewise not been about constitutional issues. This essay attempts to answer the question of whether the right to abortion belongs in the catalogue of rights in the Swedish Constitution. The answer is sought by studying the history of abortion from a legal development perspective and by examining how the catalogue of rights came about and how the debate was conducted at the time.
The study primarily shows that the history of the right to abortion is the history of societal views on women, with a clear turning point in the 1960s. It was a period of transformative liberalization, and the public debate began to focus on women's autonomy. The societal perspective shifted from the collective to the individual. Women gained increased self-determination and, eventually, the right to make decisions about their own bodies.
The protection of fundamental freedoms and rights in Sweden was weak until the constitutional reforms of the 1970s. The lengthy debate leading up to those reforms focused on protecting uncontroversial principles that were deeply rooted in society. The view that indispensable values should be included in the catalogue of rights was established.
Although the 1970s debate on constitutional issues and abortion were parallel, the question of constitutional protection for the latter was never raised. Society was not ready for that. The right to abortion was not yet generally regarded as an indispensable value. Today, however, the right to abortion has been firmly established in the public legal consciousness for a long time, it meets the requirements to be included in the Swedish Constitution and there are good reasons for introducing it.}},
author = {{Åstrand, Clara}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Den svenska aborthistorien - Från brott till grundlagsskyddad rättighet?}},
year = {{2023}},
}