MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PREREQUISITES FOR A GOOD ABORTION LAW

Ruut Veenhoven
Published in Dutch in: 'Huisarts en Wetenschap', vol. 16, pp. 86-89, 1973

ABSTRACT
In drafting a new abortion law for the near future, a number of practical considerations concerning adequate aid will have to be taken into account. Adequate aid demands smooth, simple treatment in an accepting climate. When this is lacking, so that women must go through laborious procedures in order to receive cumbersome treatment from a physician who cannot really accept full responsibility for the intervention, mishaps are bound to occur. Medical mishaps in the form of complications and a high illegal abortion rate; psychological mishaps in the form of post-abortion depressions. Numerous studies have clearly demonstrated this. It would therefore be exceedingly ill-advised to introduce, in the new legislation, mandatory consultation of an abortion team or other measures inconsistent with the advanced methods of treatment evolved in Netherlands abortion clinics.

full text in Dutch