Abortion legislation

Legislation timeline

  • 1975: Abortion is punishable with 1 year prison. But punishment is exempt if done by a doctor after consultation and within the 16 weeks of pregnancy (LMP)

Source: IPPF European Network - Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/), Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

Abortion conditions

Ground Gestational limit
To save a woman’s life No limit
Because foetal impairment No limit
To preserve a woman’s mental health
To preserve a woman’s physical health
For economic and social reasons
On request 16 weeks from LMP

Source: https://www.jusline.at/gesetz/stgb/paragraf/96, IPPF European Network - Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/), Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

Legal conditions

  • Pre-abortion counselling by a physician
  • Specific conditions due to COVID-19: Federal Office for Safety in Health Care has granted approval that all gynaecologists can prescribe the Mifegyne® abortion pill

Specific conditions for minors

  • None

Sources

  • IPPF European Network – Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/)
  • Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

Practical conditions

Medical abortion conditions

Place Prescription 1st drug taken 2nd drug taken
OB/GYN department of a hospital/clinic Yes Yes At the woman's choice either at home or in the clinic
Another physician office No No Not applicable
Midwife office No No Not applicable
Abortion centre/clinic
At home

Source: Gynmed Clinic, Vienna, www.gynmed.at, IPPF European Network - Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/), Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

Mandatory pre-abortion examinations

  • None

Involved healthcare professionals

  • Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN) or another physician
  • Medical abortion: OB/GYN or another physician

Sources

  • IPPF European Network – Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/)
  • Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

 

Abortion statistics

Abortion rates per 1.000 women aged 15-49

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Abortion is not covered by social security in Austria nor it is notifiable. Therefore no official statistic exists. But estimates are around 30.000 abortions per year for a population of 8,8 million or 2 million women in fertile age.

Overall number of induced abortions

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: ()

Source:

Abortions performed “on request”: % ()

Source:

Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Induced abortions per gestational age

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Place of abortion

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Characteristics of women having induced abortion

"Abortion rate per 1,000 women according to age" or "Distribution of induced abortion according to women age"

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Abortion is not covered by social security in Austria nor it is notifiable. Therefore no official statistic exists. But estimates are around 30.000 abortions per year for a population of 8,8 million or 2 million women in fertile age.

Fertility and contraception

Fertility rates in women aged 15-49

Source: https://www.statistik.at/statistiken/bevoelkerung-und-soziales/bevoelkerung/demographische-indikatoren-und-tafeln/demographische-querschnittsindikatoren

Women age at first birth

  • 29.9 years of age (2021)

Overall contraception data

79% of women aged 15-49 used a contraceptive method (2019):

  • 34% used oral contraceptive
  • 10% used intra-uterine device (IUD)
  • 35% used another contraception method

Pre-abortion contraception

  • Percentage of women who had abortion had a contraceptive method before abortion procedure: missing data

Contraception during abortion process

  • Percentage of women had a contraceptive method prescribed during abortion process: missing data
  • Percentage of women had long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) prescribed during abortion process: missing data
  • Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) prescribed during abortion process is placed in abortion facilities: missing data

Sources

  • https://www.statistik.at/web_en/statistics/PeopleSociety/population/demographic_indicators/index.html
  • Austrian Contraceptive Survey 2019, www.verhuetungsreport.at

Country-specific characteristics

Any physician can perform abortion but antiprogesterone (Mifegyne®) is only distributed to hospitals and clinics, not to individual physician offices. Most physicians who perform surgical abortions would like to offer medical abortion but are not legally entitled to order the drug. As only very few hospitals (6 out of 168) perform abortions, medical abortion access is limited.

Physicians have the right to refuse to perform abortions claiming conscientious objection. No physician is obliged to perform an abortion or to take part in it, except where it is necessary without delay to save the life of the pregnant woman from an acute danger which cannot otherwise be averted.
This provision has a huge negative impact on access to abortion. Outside the major cities there is no abortion provision.

Women have to pay around 330-1,000 € for medical or surgical abortion, except in the city of Vienna where women in social need (called “Mindestsicherung”) get all costs covered. Abortion due to medical reasons is reimbursed to resident women if performed in a public hospital.

Download statistics of Austria

The statistics presented are freely accessible and may be used, copied, displayed or distributed provided that their source is given. You can choose whether you prefer to download the statistics of the last 10 years or the full data set. Press one of the buttons to generate a report in PDF format for this country.

Last 10 years
Full data set

Abbreviations

  • EFTA = European Free Trade Association
  • EU = European Union
  • IUD = intra-uterine device
  • LARC = long-acting reversible contraception
  • LMP = last menstruation period
  • GYN = gynaecologist
  • HCP = health care professional
  • hCG = human chorionic gonadotropin
  • HIV = human immunodeficiency virus
  • OB = obstetrician
  • Rh = Rhesus
  • US = ultrasound

References

  • Gynmed Clinic, Vienna, www.gynmed.at
  • Austrian Contraceptive Survey, www.verhuetungsreport.at
  • Statistik Austria, www.statistik.at
  • IPPF European Network – Updated January 2012 (http://www.ippfen.org/)
  • Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familienplanung (ÖGF) (http://www.oegf.at)

A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
Please contact info@exelgyn.com if you have additional data or would like to comment information

Page last updated: 6 June 2023