Doctors won't be able to help end pregnancies with medication by July 1 as planned

General practitioners will not be allowed to prescribe pills which pregnant women can use to terminate a pregnancy, though they were supposed to be allowed to write the prescriptions from July 1. That has been delayed, the Ministry of Health said on Friday.

Due to the fall of the cabinet, it will take more time to arrange its implementation.

The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, had approved the proposal in December 2022, after the lower house, the Tweede Kamer, had also voted in favor. Physicians were to be able to provide an abortion by prescription medication to women who were up to nine weeks pregnant.

This involves two medications that must be taken within a few days. The pregnant woman first takes one pill of mifepristone to terminate the pregnancy, and then four pills of misoprostol to induce labor. General practitioners are not obliged to provide the medications themselves. Because it is considered non-standard care, physicians may refuse it.

The healthcare minister at the time, Ernst Kuipers, had announced in December that the change in the law would probably come into effect on July 1, but that was "depending on the planning" of the general administrative order. This is an arrangement in which the law is further elaborated.

For example, the law states that only general practitioners with training who are allowed to provide abortion pills, the regulations state what requirements that training must meet. It also states how general practitioners should register the abortion.

It is not yet clear when the abortion prescriptions can be provided. The ministry will announce this at a later date. According to the National Association of General Practitioners (LHV), this will "not be before January 1, 2025." Until then, general practitioners are not allowed to provide medication for abortions.