Doctors want more hospitals to offer late-term abortions

The Dutch association of gynaecologists, the NVOG, and the healthcare inspectorate IGJ want more hospitals to carry out late-term abortions – between 22 and 24 weeks – saying access to the care is not currently assured for all women.

Abortion is legal in the Netherlands up to 24 weeks. Terminations up to 22 weeks usually take place in abortion clinics, while those between 22 and 24 weeks are carried out in hospitals, of which only a small number currently do so.

Sanne Gordijn, head of obstetrics at the UMCG in Groningen, one of the few hospitals already providing the care, said some women were travelling to Spain, Britain or parts of the United States because they could not get a termination here.

She told broadcaster NOS that a late abortion is emotionally difficult for staff and never becomes routine, which is why the work needs to be shared out. The risk of medical complications after 22 weeks is why the procedure takes place in hospital.

Amsterdam’s OLVG has said it has been asked to take part but that reports it has already begun doing so are incorrect.

Gordijn said the grounds for a termination are usually a combination of factors, that the pregnant woman’s need comes first, and that no distinction is made between medical and non-medical grounds.

The UMCG said staff and medical social workers discuss the situation with women, including alternatives such as adoption, and that psychological support is available. Just over 39,000 abortions were carried out in the Netherlands in 2024, of which 331 were between 22 and 24 weeks.

Abortion clinics have reported a rise in attacks and intimidation in recent years, and MPs voted last year to bring forward a review of the abortion law, on a motion from NSC and the ChristenUnie.