This study was performed in order to provide a description of indications for induced elective terminations of pregnancy (ETOP), their characteristics (e.g. gestational age), and their evolution over time. This is an epidemiological study. The geographic area covered is the French county of 'Isère', which represents a mean of 14 000 births per year over the study period. Data on ETOPs were collected actively from medical records by a register of childhood deficiencies and adverse perinatal events in this county. Between 1989 and 2000, 996 ETOPs were notified. Four main grounds for ETOPs were identified: (1) morphological anomalies with normal karyotype (39%), (2) chromosomal anomalies (35%), (3) other fetal grounds (16%), and (4) maternal indications (10%). Prevalence rates for the first two grounds increased significantly over the study period respectively from 2.0 to 2.9 and from 1.4 to 2.7 per 1000. Among the ETOPs carried out because of fetal indications, the percentage of late ETOPs (from 24 weeks of gestation) was 34.6%, and remained stable over the studied period. In some cases, a medical consensus was not reached with respect to indications for termination (sex chromosome anomalies, limb defects). We estimated the percentage of these cases as being 2.7% of the figure for fetal indications, without any variation in prevalence over the whole period (p = 0.59). The increasing number of ETOPs that occurred in the chromosomal aberrations group during the study period is thought to be due to an increase in diagnostic sensitivity. The increase that occurred in the morphological anomalies group is thought to be due both to an increase in sensitivity and to a widening of the field with respect to indications, some of which have an uncertain prognosis (e.g. agenesis of the corpus callosum). This study provides useful data for monitoring medical practice consistency within the field of prenatal diagnosis, and for the drive to keep medical practice within ethically acceptable limits. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.