Netherlands – Pro files bill to take abortion out of Dutch Criminal Code

Monday, 28 September 2026

The opposition party Pro wants abortion removed from the Criminal Code and is planning on submitting an initiative bill, NOS reports. Lawmaker Lisa Vliegenthart says abortion should be placed in healthcare law. “As far as I am concerned, abortion is care, and care truly has no place in the Criminal Code."

Abortion is legal in the Netherlands. Article 296 makes abortion a criminal offense unless it is performed by a physician and meets the conditions of the Termination of Pregnancy Act. This does not make the pregnant woman herself punishable.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2026/09/28/pro-files-bill-take-abortion-dutch-criminal-code

28.09.2026

Termination of Pregnancy Act

NETHERLANDS – Prosecutors seek nearly 16 years prison in Diemen “abortion murder” case

Saturday, 26 September 2026

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and nine months and mandatory psychiatric treatment at a TBS facility for 55-year-old Dennis van E. for the murder of his unborn child and the fatal assault of the child’s mother, 32-year-old Brazilian Patricia Oliveira dos Santos.

The case is known as the “abortion murder.” Prosecutors claim that Van E. forced an improvised abortion, with a fatal outcome for the mother and the unborn child. “Why? Because he did not want to father the boy. Everything else had to make way for that,” the prosecution said.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2026/09/26/prosecutors-seek-nearly-16-years-prison-diemen-abortion-murder-case

26.09.2026

News

Dennis van E.

Patricia Oliveira dos Santos

Public Prosecution Service

Inspectors allow only Dutch online abortion service to continue

September 3, 2026

The Dutch’ healthcare inspectorate has found that the country’s only online abortion service fell short on its duties for care, but will let it keep operating after the site agreed to change its practices.

Thuisabortus.nl, which launched in March, was the first service in the Netherlands to let women get the abortion pill prescribed without an in-person visit to a GP or clinic.

The inspectorate, the IGJ, said the main problem was that women who ordered the pill through the website usually had no personal contact with a doctor before it was prescribed but it also found no serious risk to patients and so no reason to shut it down.

Continued; https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/09/inspectors-allow-only-dutch-online-abortion-service-to-continue/

03.09.2026

News

Diederik van Dijk

Peter Leusink

self-managed abortion

Netherlands – Doctors want more hospitals to offer late-term abortions

August 3, 2026

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.

Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/08/doctors-want-more-hospitals-to-offer-late-term-abortions/

03.08.2026

News

Dutch Association of Gynaecologists

Dutch government rules out using EU funding to pay for abortions

June 3, 2026

Abortion campaigners have criticised the decision by health minister Sophie Hermans not to use European funding to support women who travel to the Netherlands because the procedure is not available in their own countries.

The EU agreed to finance cross-border abortions last February after a citizens’ initiative, My Voice, My Choice, gathered more than a million signatures across the bloc.

The money would be provided through the European Social Fund, under which the Netherlands receives €400 million to spend on anti-poverty programmes.

Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/06/dutch-government-rules-out-using-eu-funding-to-pay-for-abortions/

03.06.2026

News

Abortion Network Amsterdam

Alex van Vliet

European Social Fund

My Voice My Choice

Raquel Garcia Hermída-Van der Walle

Netherlands – Abortion clinics report more attacks and intimidation

April 2, 2026

Abortion clinics in the Netherlands are reporting an increasing number of attacks as anti-abortion sentiment grows, the Telegraaf reported on Thursday.

“We used to get the odd nasty letter, and no one came to demonstrate at the clinic but since 2017, we have become a target,” Femke van Straaten, a director of abortion clinics in Amsterdam and Haarlem, told the paper. The incidents range from demonstrations near the clinic to being sent IS decapitation videos.

Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/04/abortion-clinics-report-more-attacks-and-intimidation/

02.04.2026

News

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice intimidation

NETHERLANDS – Online platform for abortion pill paused after 5 days over high demand

Tuesday, 31 March 2026
NL Times

Thuisabortus.nl, the website where women who want to terminate an unwanted pregnancy can get the abortion pill online, has been paused just five days after its launch. The demand was much higher than the medical team behind the site expected, and they could not keep up with assessing the requests. The site received around 30 requests per day, 150 in total, initiator Peter Leusink, a house doctor and sexologist, told NU.nl.

Women who want to terminate an unwanted pregnancy can go to the site up to 9 weeks into that pregnancy. They have to complete a questionnaire that a team of doctors assesses before approving the request. Upon approval, the abortion pill is sent to a pharmacy, where the woman can collect it.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2026/03/31/online-platform-abortion-pill-paused-5-days-high-demand

31.03.2026

News

Dutch Association of Abortion Doctors

Dutch Medical Association

Karin van der Velde

National Association of General Practitioners

online abortion pills

Netherlands – Minister blocks plan for protest buffer zones around abortion clinics

Friday, 19 December 2025

Plans to create legally mandated buffer zones around abortion clinics to protect visitors from protesters have been halted after last-minute opposition from BBB Vice Prime Minister Mona Keijzer, sources told RTL. The move affects proposals by ministers for Interior and Kingdom Relations, Rijkaart (BBB), and Justice and Security, Van Oosten (VVD).

The proposal, submitted last Friday to the ministerial council, aimed to establish zones around clinics where demonstrations would be restricted. “Women must be guaranteed a quiet passage to an abortion clinic,” the ministers wrote in an unpublished letter seen by RTL. Currently, such protections depend on decisions by individual mayors.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/19/minister-blocks-plan-protest-buffer-zones-around-abortion-clinics

19.12.2025

News

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice protesters

NETHERLANDS – Mayors can’t ban protests at abortion clinics, but can set limits: Council of State

Wednesday, 3 December 2025

Mayors can’t ban people from demonstrating at abortion clinics, but they can impose restrictions to prevent disorder, the Council of State ruled in four cases on Wednesday. For example, mayors can prohibit protests directly in front of the clinic’s entrance, as long as the location where demonstrators are permitted is within sight and hearing distance from the clinic, the Council of State said.

Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State issued rulings on four demonstrations at abortion clinics - one in Groningen, one in Amsterdam, and two in Heemstede. In all four cases, the mayor banned protesters from demonstrating directly in front of the clinic’s entrance to prevent disorder. The protesters disagreed with this.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/03/mayors-cant-ban-protests-abortion-clinics-can-set-limits-council-state

03.12.2025

News

anti-choice protesters

Dutch abortions hold steady at 39,000, teen procedures decrease

Thursday, 23 October 2025

The Netherlands recorded roughly 39,000 abortions in 2024, virtually unchanged from 2023, while procedures among teenagers dropped to 2,800, down 76 from the previous year, according to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate. Abortions for girls under 15 fell from 107 in 2023 to 65 in 2024.

Most abortions were performed on women aged 25 to 34, with over half occurring between five and six weeks of pregnancy. Since 2023, Dutch law no longer requires a mandatory five-day reflection period.

Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/10/23/dutch-abortions-hold-steady-39000-teen-procedures-decrease

23.10.2025

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Europe

Netherlands