Abortion which midwives usually worked were relatively safe. In addition, some commentators have written that, despite improved medical procedures, the period from the 1930s until legalization also saw more zealous enforcement of anti-abortion laws, and concomitantly an increasing control of abortion providers by organized crime. Soviet Russia (1919), Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) were among the first countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion. In 1935 Nazi Germany, a law was passed permitting abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill", while women considered of German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions. Beginning in the second half of the twentieth
Abortion in Sint Maarten more tolerant of abortion despite the fact that Sint Maarten's own law did not change. The Ministry of Health in the nearby island country of Curaçao has had an ongoing agreement with abortion providers in Sint Maarten, providing inspections of the facilities for quality of care. Abortion is more accessible in the neighbouring country of the Collectivity of Saint Martin—which forms the other half of the island Saint Martin—where medical abortion using misoprostol is legal until 14 weeks' gestation and is universally available to those without health insurance. It is therefore common for women in Sint Maarten seeking abortions to