A majority of Dutch general practitioners are prepared to provide the abortion pill if they are given the legal opportunity to do so. That is the most important outcome of a scientific study commissioned by the abortion organization Women on Waves, the preliminary results of which have been published in preprint† Although 58 percent of GPs are positive about the abortion pill, three quarters say they do not currently feel sufficiently qualified to carry out this treatment.
The results are relevant because next Thursday the debate will continue in the House of Representatives about an initiative law by GroenLinks, PvdA, D66 and VVD that makes it possible to provide the abortion pill by the general practitioner. At present, abortion, even when using the abortion pill, may only be initiated by doctors in licensed abortion clinics or hospitals. The initiators believe that GPs should also be able to do this, in order to make abortion care more accessible and to increase women’s freedom of choice.
‘Not fully representative’
Although GP organizations are positive about the proposal, until now it was unclear how much support there is among individual GPs for the amendment of the law. Various parties in the House said that they considered sufficient support to be important. For the research, which British Journal of General Practice is published last autumn, hundreds of general practitioners throughout the Netherlands were asked to participate in a survey and interviews were also conducted. A total of 127 general practitioners took part, with an overrepresentation of women and doctors from North Holland and Utrecht. “It is not fully representative numerically, but it gives a good indication,” says co-author and GP Peter Leusink.
If the law is passed, GPs will not be obliged to provide the abortion pill. Leusink therefore finds the willingness of 58 percent among his colleagues ‘very acceptable’. “Many GPs work in group practices, so with this percentage there is always a GP who wants to help a woman.”
Also read: Abortion advocates celebrate ‘big step forward’ but the counter-camp is also growing
Only 15 percent of GPs currently feel sufficiently equipped to prescribe the abortion pill, 76 percent do not because of lack of knowledge and experience. For this reason, the private member’s bill provides for compulsory training for general practitioners who want to work with the abortion pill.
GroenLinks MP and initiator Corinne Ellemeet calls the study “very good news”. “It’s about increasing freedom of choice, if more than half of the general practitioners already want it now, it is a very substantial group that will hopefully grow even further.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of March 7, 2022