Abortion in Israel is permitted when determined by a termination committee, with the vast majority of cases being approved, as of 2019[update].
According to government data, in Israel, abortion rates in 2016 dropped steadily to 9 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, lower than England (16.2) and the United States (13.2).
[2] Abortion in Israel had been illegal, but became legal, subject to a termination committee's approval, under the penal code of 1977.
[12][13] In practice, most requests for abortion that qualify for the above are granted, and leniency is shown especially under the clause for emotional or psychological damage to the pregnant woman.
[14] In 2022, new regulations went into effect stating that those seeking abortions could send their requests online, and would no longer be asked about their use of birth control.
In 2024, Pew Research Center reported that 51% of Israeli adults believed that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, with 42% having the opposite opinion.
In 2006, MK Zehava Gal-On of Meretz proposed a bill that would eliminate the termination committees, effectively decriminalizing unrestricted abortion.
[20] Gal-On argued that women with financial means can have abortions in private clinics, bypassing the committee and, therefore, gaining rights based on their wealth.
In 2004, MK Reshef Chen of Shinui submitted an addendum to reinstate the clause, arguing that under present circumstances, women with financial problems must lie to the termination committee to obtain approval under the emotional or psychological damage clause, and that "no advanced country compels its citizens to lie in order to preserve religious, chauvinistic, patronizing archaic values".
Efrat's campaign includes stickers with the slogan, "Don't abort me" (Hebrew: אל תפילו אותי).