France

Health systems in transition France 17
In terms of contraception, oral contraceptives remain the most popular form
of birth control, used by 55.5% of women aged 15–49 in 2010. However, 7.7%
of women at risk for an unplanned pregnancy stated that they used no form of
contraception. From age 15, minors have free access to contraceptives covered
by SHI with a prescription and free and anonymous access to emergency
contraception without a prescription. Between 2000 and 2010, the proportion of
sexually active women aged 15–49 who indicated that they had used emergency
contraception increased from 9% to 24% (Danet, 2012).
Abortion is legal on demand in France up to 12 weeks following conception.
Terminations at later stages require certification by two physicians that the
abortion is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the woman’s
physical or mental health, that the woman’s life is at risk or that the child will
suffer from a particularly severe illness that is considered incurable. Despite the
growing use of contraception and the availability of emergency contraception,
the voluntary abortion rate has not fallen (Table 1.7). Since 2000, 5–6% of
the total number of abortions was among women under age 18. Drug-induced
abortions accounted for half of the total abortions (Danet, 2012).
In 2010, the French number of neonatal deaths per 1000 births was 2.5
(Table 1.7), the same as the EU27 average. Mortality rates have diminished for
each age group, except for infant mortality, which remained stable at 3.3 per
1000 live births in 2012. In the overseas departments, infant mortality is more
than two times that of metropolitan France. After a significant decrease in 2005,
maternal mortality has once again increased, and in 2010 the rate was 8.9 deaths
per 100 000 births (Table 1.7). A 2011 ministerial circular directed the ARSs to
make the reduction of avoidable maternal deaths a priority.