since the early 1970s, abortion services in the Netherlands have been among the most liberal in the world. A woman desiring an abortion is regarded as the person best able to judge whether the operation is necessary; the physician's role is limited to determining whether an abortion would pose any risk to the woman's health. This paper reviews the abortion debates of the 1960s and the emergence of free standing abortion clinics during the 1970s. It presents data on the incidence of abortions performed in the Netherlands among both Dutch and foreign women and on rates of contraceptive use among women prior to and following an abortion. The very low incidence of abortion among the Dutch population is seen as a reflection of very high incidence of effective contraceptive practice, as well as the readily available family planning services, the open attitude toward sexuality found in Dutch society, and a strong tendency to regard induced abortion as a last resort.
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Ketting et al. (1980) studied this question.