Abortion legislation
Legal conditions
- 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)
- No consent required from the age of 16
Source:
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
Source:
Abortion statistics
Overall number of induced abortions
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/igj-in-cijfers/cijfers-zwangerschapsafbreking
Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 157 (2021)
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/publicaties/jaarverslagen/2022/09/22/wafz-2021
Abortions performed “on request”: % ()
Source:
Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/publicaties/jaarverslagen/2022/09/22/wafz-2021
Induced abortions per gestational age (2021)
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/igj-in-cijfers/cijfers-zwangerschapsafbreking
Place of abortion (2021)
Source: https://www.igj.nl/over-ons/publicaties/jaarverslagen/2022/09/22/wafz-2021
Private facilities are abortion clinics paid by the government.
Characteristics of women having induced abortion
In 2021, among women who had induced abortion:
- 90.5% lived in the Netherlands
- 34% had at least 1 previous induced abortion
- 54% had at least 1 child
Source:
Fertility and contraception
Women age at first birth
- 30.3 years of age (2021)
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).
Source:
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: 4 July 2023