title: Problems of implementation and consequences of the 1975 provisional law to liberalize abortion in France.
abstract: The passage of the 1975 law to liberalize abortion in France was inevitable because of the inadequacy of the 1920 law. The new law was passed quickly at the end of 1974 and its rapid implementation on January 17, 1975, caught public health officials by surprise. Two benefits have resulted from the law's implementation: (a) abortion has become a medical act, reducing the incidence of illegal termination of pregnancy and its complications; and (b) it has limited the need to travel to more liberal countries for an abortion. Chief among the law's disadvantages are the nonapplication of certain of its sections, the absence of means to curb noncomplying physicians and a certain laxity in its application due to inadequate public knowledge of the risks involved in repeated abortions.
mesh_terms: D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007883:Legislation, Medical; D010820:Physicians; D011247:Pregnancy; D012306:Risk