Lectures and seminars The path to free abortion – an exposé on the struggle for the right to choose
50 years of the right to choose has impacted hugely on the availability of safe and accessible clinical abortions. Few things have meant so much for women’s individual rights and health in Sweden as the Abortion Act.
Seminar
This year celebrates 50 years of the Abortion Act in Sweden – and 50 years of opposition to it. Today, anti-abortion sentiments are on the rise in the West. The Abortion Act gives women the right to decide on a termination up until the 18th week of pregnancy and has made it possible for researchers to improve the abortion procedure and make it safer, more accessible and more accepted.
Medical abortion was developed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Human Reproduction at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. A medical abortion involves two different preparations, one of which is synthetic prostaglandin. In 1982, Sune Bergström and Bengt Samuelsson, both at Karolinska Institutet, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins. Medical abortion has proved particularly valuable in low-resource countries, where terminations are both hard to arrange and highly risky. Unsafe abortions are one of the main causes of maternal mortality.
Participants
Kristina Gemzell Danielsson, professor at Karolinska Institutet, consultant at Karolinska University Hospital and member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet
Malin Clausson, journalist and author for Faktum
Sandra Pandevski, journalist and author for Faktum
Moderator: Annette Aronsson, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and consultant at Karolinska University Hospital
Queries? Contact annette.aronsson@ki.se
The event is free of charge and no advanced registration is required. It is being arranged in association with RFSU and the Museum of Women’s History.
Nobel Calling Stockholm
The announcement of the year’s new Nobel laureates turns the world’s attention onto Stockholm. To mark the occasion, the Nobel Prize Museum is teaming up with KI and other institutions to turn the city into a hub of science, research and technology under the name Nobel Calling. In the true spirit of knowledge, KI will be one of many sources of inspiration and enlightenment. View the full programme here.
