Abortion in Finland was illegal until 1950, when the Parliament of Finland decriminalized abortions when performed to preserve the physical or mental health of the woman, in cases where it could be determined if the child would be handicapped, or if the pregnancy resulted from rape. Finnish law was further liberalised in 1970, allowing abortion for socio-economic reasons, if the woman was younger than 17 or older than 40, if the woman had already had four children, or if, owing to disease or mental disturbance, one or both parents would be unable to raise the child.