The figures are even more dramatic for Antillean teenage girls: they have eight times more abortions than their Dutch peers.
Some 40 of every 1,000 Antillean women in the Netherlands had an abortion in 2008. The corresponding per 1,000 figures were 5.5 for Dutch native women, 24 for women from other South and Central American countries, and 33 for Surinamese women.
Of every 1,000 Antillean teenage girls, 37.6 had an abortion, while Dutch native teenagers had 4.7 abortions per 1,000. Half of the Antillean women had already had earlier abortions. The total number of abortions in the Netherlands in 2008 was 33,000.
The 2008 National Abortion Register of the sexual information centre Rutger Nisso Group announced the figures on Thursday, based on data of 14 of the 16 abortion clinics in the Netherlands.
According to Rutger Nisso Group, Antillean, Surinamese and women from African countries needed more attention in the areas of sexual education and prevention of unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.
