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 

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 

In 2020, among women who had induced abortion:

– 91% lived in the Netherlands
– 35% had at least 1 previous induced abortion
– 54% had at least 1 child.

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