Abortion: legislation and statistics in Europe

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study design and data availability.

Figure 2. Legal grounds for abortion in Europe. Source: www.abort-report.eu.

Table 1. Obligatory waiting periods (‘cooling off’).

Country	Waiting period	Details
Slovak Republic	2 days	After signing of the consent form
Germany	3 days	3 full days, after obligatory counselling in an appr. counselling centre, not the same as abortion
Latvia, Portugal, Ireland	3 days	After 1st appointment with doctor
Hungary	3 days	Between 2 oblig. Counselling in approved counselling centre
The Netherlands	5 days (only after 44th day LMP)	5 full days from 1st contact with health care professional, > exceptions
Belgium	6 days	after obligatory counselling, done in the same centre as the abortion
Italy	7 days	from first contact with a doctor (certification required)

No waiting period: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France (deleted in 2015), Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.

Figure 3. Legal time limits* for performing on request abortion by European country. *In weeks of amenorrhoea. Source: www.abort-report.eu.

Table 2. Main descriptive statistics for abortion in Europe.

Country	Latest available data	Number of abortions within the year	Abortion rate for 1000 women (15–49 years of age)	Ratio for 1000 births within the year	Percentage of Medical abortion
Belgium*	2011	19,577	9,3	–	21%
Croatia	2017	2416	–	80	–
Czech Republic	2015	20,403	14,8	322	–
Denmark	2015	15,473	12,3	264	70%
Estonia	2017	4107	14,0	295	77%
Finland	2017	9358	8,2	185	97%
France	2017	216,685	14,8	282	67%
Germany	2017	101,209	5,8	132	21%
Iceland†	2015	921	11,8	223	67%
Italy	2016	84,926	6,5	182	18%
Netherlands*	2016	30,144	8,5	154	24%
Norway†	2017	12,733	10,6	222	88%
Poland‡	2017	1061	0,1	3	–
Portugal	2016	15,416	7,2	183	72%
Slovakia	2017	7496	4,7	105	–
Slovenia	2017	3526	8,1	178	75%
Spain*	2016	93,131	10,4	227	36%
Sweden	2017	36,206	19,7	326	93%
Switzerland*†	2017	10,015	6,3	113	75%
United Kingdom: England & Wales*	2017	194,668	17,0	–	64%

*Women between 15 and 44 years of age for abortion rate; ^†non-EU countries; ^‡abortion is illegal [14].

–: missing data or not applicable.

Note 1. Malta was excluded from the analysis.

Note 2. No data for Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania, and Serbia.

Figure 4. Abortion rate in women of childbearing age (15–49 years) by European country. x-axis: years; y-axis: abortion rate per 1000 women of childbearing age (15–49 years). *According to national statistics childbearing age is comprised between 15 and 44 years.

Figure 5. Percentage of medical abortions by European country. x-axis: years; y-axis: percentage.

THE IRISH TIMES, NI secretary can direct establishment of abortion services, judge rules. THE IRISH TIMES. 2022 Feb 8. Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/ni-secretary-can-direct-establishment-of-abortion-services-judge-rules-1.4796919.

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