THE NETHERLANDS

 
 
 

 

☷   ABORTION LEGISLATION

Law on termination of pregnancy, 1 May 1981
Decree of 17 May 1984 laying down provisions for the implementation of the law
Abort-Report: Abortion conditions in Netherlands
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Legal conditions

  • Mandatory 5-day waiting period between pre-abortion consultation and abortion procedure (after 44 days after LMP)
  • Contraception to be evoked during at least one of the medical consultations

 

Specific conditions for minors

  • Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent mandatory for minors under 12
  • Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors between 12 and 16 except under special circumstances (in that case, the young girl should contact her GP or a doctor at an abortion clinic who will decide whether the girl is able to make a well-considered decision)
  • Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors between 16 and 18 only if the doctor decides that the young girl is unable to make a well-considered decision on her own.
  • Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 18

 

 

Abortion legislation | Practical conditions | Abortion statistics | Characteristics of women having induced abortion
Fertility and contraception data | Country-specific characteristics 

 

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☷   PRACTICAL CONDITIONS

Abort Report - Medical Abortion Conditions in The Netherlands
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Mandatory pre-abortion examinations

  • Missing data

 

Involved healthcare professionals

  • Surgical abortion: obstetricians/gynaecologists (OB/GYN) or another physician trained in abortion care
  • Medical abortion: OB/GYN or another physician trained in abortion care

 

 

Abortion legislation | Practical conditions | Abortion statistics | Characteristics of women having induced abortion
Fertility and contraception data | Country-specific characteristics 

 

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☷   ABORTION STATISTICS

Abort-ReportAbortion rates per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in Netherlands
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☷   CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN HAVING INDUCED ABORTION
Abort-Report: Distribution of induced abortions according to woman age in Netherlands show

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☷   FERTILITY AND CONTRACEPTION DATA


Women age at first birth

  • 30 years of age (2015). (To be confirmed)

Overall contraception data – Missing data.

Pre-abortion contraception – Missing data.

Contraception during abortion process

  • 73% of women had a contraceptive method prescribed during abortion process (2015). (To be confirmed)

 

 

Abortion legislation | Practical conditions | Abortion statistics | Characteristics of women having induced abortion
Fertility and contraception data | Country-specific characteristics 

 

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☷   COUNTRY-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS

  • Both surgical and medical abortions are free of charge for resident women.
  • Healthcare professionals have the right to conscientiously object but they are required to inform the patient without delay and provide referral.

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The slides presented are freely accessible. They may be used, copied, displayed or distributed provided that their source is given

SOURCES

IPPF European Network – Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/)
Health Care inspectorate – Statistics 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018
https://www.government.nl/topics/abortion
CIA (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook)

 

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Page updated in February 2020