Abortion legislation
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
Practical conditions
Involved healthcare professional
- 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 statistics
Overall number of induced abortions
Source: https://www.igj.nl/actueel/nieuws/2021/12/09/minder-abortussen-in-2020
Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 169 (2020)
Source: https://www.igj.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2021/12/09/jaarrapportage-2020-wet-afbreking-zwangerschap
Abortions performed “on request”: % ()
Source:
Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions
Source: https://www.igj.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2021/12/09/jaarrapportage-2020-wet-afbreking-zwangerschap
Induced abortions per gestational age
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/igj-in-cijfers/cijfers-zwangerschapsafbreking
Place of abortion
Source: https://www.igj.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2021/12/09/jaarrapportage-2020-wet-afbreking-zwangerschap
Characteristics of women having induced abortion
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
Sources
- https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/igj-in-cijfers/cijfers-zwangerschapsafbreking
Fertility and contraception
Women age at first birth
- 30.1 years of age (2020)
Overall contraception data
- 60% used overall contraception in 2017
Contraception during abortion process
- 73% of women had a contraceptive method prescribed during abortion process (2015). (To be confirmed)
Sources
- https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/figures/detail/37422eng?q=births
Country-specific characteristics
A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
Please contact info@exelgyn.com if you have additional data or would like to comment information
Page last updated: 3 May 2023