Women in the Netherlands who wish to end an unwanted pregnancy can order an abortion pill online from Tuesday as part of a plan to make the service more accessible.

Family doctors have been able to prescribed the pills since last year, alongside clinics and gynaecologists. However, access can still be a problem, Peter Leusink, a family doctor and one of the people behind the website thuisabortus.nl,  told RTL Nieuws.

“Abortion care in the Netherlands is well-organised but not as freely available as people might think,” he said. “Women who live in Drenthe or Friesland, for example, have to take time off because no nearby clinic or family doctor is willing to prescribe the pill. Or they are accosted by anti-abortion demonstrators at a clinic. The online pill will take care of the practical problems.”

The online abortion pills can be used up to nine weeks into the pregnancy, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) advocates access until 12 weeks.

In the case of the Dutch abortion pill, women are asked to fill out a questionnaire, which will be evaluated by a team of family doctors and gynecologists. If the request for a pill is approved, it will be sent free of charge to the woman’s pharmacy.

Personal contact with a doctor may still be advisable based on the woman’s medical history, Leusink said. Doctors’ federation KNMG said that the lack of consultation with a doctor may make the procedure “insufficiently safe” and does not take into account the “risks or second thoughts” the doctor may signal.

The abortion pill is issued “on trust”, Leusink said. “There’s always the chance of fraud but that goes for face-to-face requests for the pill as well. The second round of pills is taken home and there is a chance they will be given to someone else.

“Instances of forced abortions are very rare and used by opponents of abortion to discredit websites like these,” he said.

In 2024, the number of abortions in the Netherlands remained stable at just over 39,000. The number of abortions for girls up to age of 15 fell sharply, from 107 to 65.