PIP: To investigate the effects of the law legalizing abortion, passed in France in 1975, on serious complications caused by the procedure, the authors have investigated 2 such complications, acute renal failure, and tetanus. Such complications are treated only in specialized reanimation centers, therefore it was possible, through the medical dossiers, to statistically measure the number of cases treated before and after the 1975 law. The number of cases of acute renal insufficiency began to drop in 1973, possibly due to the fact that many women would then go to Britain to seek abortion, where it had already been legalized. After 1975 the number of cases treated went from 233 to 45, and cases of death went from 34 to 4. Only 8 cases of tetanus were reported, and all before the 1975 law. These conclusions agree with other data published in the literature on the effects of the legalization of abortion on its medical complications.