Dutch hospitals will begin carrying out abortions between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases where parents decide they do not want to continue the pregnancy, closing what health authorities have described as a gap in the country’s abortion system.
Until now, abortions after 22 weeks were rarely performed in the Netherlands except in cases involving severe fetal abnormalities or serious risks to the mother’s health.
While Dutch law defines fetal viability at 24 weeks, hospitals generally stopped performing abortions after 22 weeks because babies born from around 22 to 24 weeks can now survive with modern neonatal care.
24 weeks of pregnancy is approximately 6 months, when the mother approaches the third trimester.
According to Dutch newspaper AD, the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (NVOG) and hospitals have now agreed on a protocol allowing hospitals to perform abortions between 22 and 24 weeks in situations where a woman or couple decides not to continue the pregnancy after the legal deadline for treatment in specialised abortion clinics has passed.
The move is intended to prevent women from having to travel abroad for the procedure, though only the UK offers abortion up to 24 weeks.
Under Dutch law, abortions on request are generally carried out in specialised clinics up to around 22 weeks of pregnancy.
After that point, only hospitals are authorised to perform the procedure.
The new protocol provides a framework for hospitals to undertake such abortions before the legal viability limit of 24 weeks.
Medical organisations said the change addresses an inconsistency in the current system, under which women whose pregnancies exceed the clinic limit by a matter of days often have no practical option within the Netherlands despite remaining within the legal framework.
They argued that a clear national protocol would provide greater legal certainty for doctors and patients alike.
The announcement has drawn criticism from pro-life organisations, which argue that the measure effectively expands access to late-term abortion of healthy babies at a stage when many unborn children are capable of surviving outside the womb with medical care.
Critics also questioned why the practical limit is being moved closer to the legal definition of viability as neonatal medicine continues to improve.
Orthodox Protestant party SGP accused the government of bypassing Parliament.
MP Diederik van Dijk said MPs had not been informed that hospitals would begin performing abortions between 22 and 24 weeks under a new protocol, adding that the plans only became public after nurses raised the alarm.
He demanded a parliamentary debate, arguing that decisions affecting viable unborn children should be made by elected lawmakers rather than through administrative agreements between hospitals and professional bodies.
In 2024, more than 39,000 abortions were performed across the entire Netherlands. 331 of those were, according to the Ministry of Health, terminated between 22 and 24 weeks. The fetus receives a lethal injection in the process.
By 24 weeks of pregnancy, the fetus is highly developed. It measures around 30 centimetres from head to heel and weighs roughly 600 grams.
The face is fully formed, fingerprints are present, and the baby can respond to sounds, light and touch. Brain development accelerates rapidly during this period, while the lungs continue maturing and begin producing surfactant, a substance essential for breathing after birth.
Although a baby born at 24 weeks remains extremely premature and requires intensive medical care, advances in neonatal medicine mean that many infants born at this stage now survive, with survival rates in specialised neonatal units often exceeding 60–70 per cent in developed countries.
