Second-Trimester Abortion Services In the Netherlands

Abstract

During each of the past few years, between 80,000 and 100,000 pregnant women underwent voluntary, induced abortion in the Netherlands. The majority (about 85%) of them came from abroad. The large number of foreign women requesting abortion assistance was a logical consequence of the slow pace at which safe and easily accessible abortion facilities were being created in other Western European countries. The Dutch abortion clinics, which came into existence in the early 1970s, thus began to assume an international medical role for all of Western Europe. In the liberal situation which presently exists in the Netherlands, these clinics have been able to develop into specialized institutions with vast experience. As a result of regular communication among the various clinics, as well as a continuing exchange of points of view and experiences with regard to various aspects of treatment, both of which have been conducted within the framework of a sociomedical research organization designated as “Stimezo-Nederland,” a high level of uniform quality of medical care has been reached in less than one decade.