Today, 76 percent of the world's population lives in countries where induced abortion is legal, at least for health reasons, and 39 percent reside in countries where abortion is available on request. The procedure is legal in almost all developed countries, and although the majority of developing countries prohibit abortion, 67 percent of people in developing countries live in countries where it is permitted, at least for health reasons. . The remaining 33 percent - more than a billion people, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the most fundamentalist Islamic countries - have little or no access to legal induced abortion. legal abortions when they need them, the current global situation differs significantly from that which prevailed 50 years ago, when almost all countries banned abortion. The first definitive steps toward legalizing abortion were taken in Northern Europe in the 1930s and gained momentum in the years following World War II, when the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (except Albania) have passed laws allowing first trimester abortions. either at the request of the woman, or on the basis of social indications interpreted in a broad sense. Many other developed countries, including the United States, followed suit in the 1960s and 1970s. By early 1986, induced abortions could be legally obtained for health reasons in North America and all countries European countries, with the exception of Belgium, Ireland and Malta. Although in many of these countries some restrictions apply to abortion, particularly during the second trimester, almost all women who wish one can benefit from a legal abortion during the first trimester. So the law...... middle of paper ...... where out-of-hospital abortions are permitted, an increasing proportion are performed in clinics or doctors' offices. In West Germany, for example, the proportion of abortions performed outside hospitals increased from 15 percent in 1977 to 57 percent in 1984. Even where hospital abortions are compulsory, there is a trend almost universal to perform inpatient abortions on an outpatient basis. . In Sweden, the proportion of outpatient abortions increased from 16 percent in 1971 to 83 percent in 1983. Hungary is the only European country that requires all abortion patients to spend the night in hospital; 82 percent only stay one night. In West Germany, 19 percent of abortions performed in 19984 involved a hospitalization of four days or more, and the average length of hospitalization among women who had a suction curettage abortion was four days...