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Abortion in Austria

What the law allows, how long you actually have, what it costs, and where care exists. Factual, and without judgement.

General information about the law and the care that exists in Austria. This is not medical or legal advice, and not a view on your decision. Details are date-sensitive.

The things that decide your situation

How long you have
About three months - counted from implantation, not from your missed period

In practice that lands near the start of week 16, counted from the first day of your last period. Most providers in Austria stop earlier, at 13+6. Counting from the wrong point is the most common and most costly mistake here - get the date confirmed by ultrasound.

Schwangerschaftsabbruch: gesetzliche Regelungen
The earlier deadline almost nobody mentions
Medication abortion: only up to day 63 (end of week 9)

The gentler, cheaper, more private option closes long before the legal limit does. After that, only a surgical procedure is available.

Faltblatt „Schwangerschaftsabbruch", 3. Auflage (Nov 2025)
Counselling and waiting time
No counselling centre required. No waiting period.

The law requires a medical conversation with the doctor who treats you - not a certificate from a counselling service. Germany is different (it requires a Beratungsschein and a three-day wait), and people regularly import that assumption.

§ 97 StGB - Straflosigkeit des Schwangerschaftsabbruchs
Who pays
You do - it is a private service

Public insurance covers it only on medical grounds, or if the girl was under 14.

Meine Entscheidung - mit welchen Kosten muss ich rechnen?
Confidentiality
No report to your insurer or any institution

There is no reporting obligation at all, no residency requirement, and you never have to give a reason.

Schwangerschaftsabbruch - Überblick

How it usually goes

Words like "usually" are deliberate - what is available varies enormously depending on where you live.

  1. 1Confirm the pregnancy and get the dating right - by ultrasound, not arithmetic
  2. 2Find a provider. Outside Vienna this is the hard part, not the decision
  3. 3If you need help with the cost, apply before treatment - afterwards is too late
  4. 4The medical consultation (this is the conversation the law requires) and the choice of method
  5. 5The procedure - medication, with the second tablet taken at home, or a short surgical procedure
  6. 6Confirm it is complete - a test at about 2–3 weeks, or a check-up

What it costs

Typical range
Roughly €400–€1,000

Varies by method, provider and Bundesland. Ask for the full price up front. If you live outside a city, travel, an overnight stay and lost pay can cost more than the procedure itself.

Faltblatt „Schwangerschaftsabbruch", 3. Auflage (Nov 2025)
Vienna hardship support
€417.35 via MA 40 - but only if you apply first

You need written approval before the procedure; apply afterwards and you get nothing. It is also pegged to the public tariff, so at a private clinic you still pay the difference.

Wer hilft, wenn ich kein Geld für den Schwangerschaftsabbruch habe?
When insurance does pay
On medical grounds, or if the girl was under 14
Meine Entscheidung - mit welchen Kosten muss ich rechnen?

What trips people up

Why "three months" is misleading

The law says three months from the start of the pregnancy - and never defines when that is. The settled reading is from implantation, roughly three weeks after your last period began.

So the outer legal limit lands near the start of week 16 counted from your last period. But most Austrian providers stop at 13+6.

If you count from your missed period, or from the day you found out, you will get this wrong in the direction that hurts. Ask for the date to be confirmed by ultrasound.

Where care actually exists

Around a third of public hospitals with a gynaecology department perform abortions at all. Only about one in eight perform them on request - roughly ten clinics nationwide, five of them in or near Vienna.

Burgenland and Tirol effectively have none. Kärnten did not answer when asked. One clinic that reports offering the service turned a woman away on ethical grounds.

A quarter of Austrian women aged 15–59 live more than 70 km from the nearest public clinic that does this on request; in the south it can be 200 km.

Doctors who do provide care often stay unlisted to avoid harassment. So any list - including ours - is incomplete by design, not by sloppiness.

Under 18 - the rule is the opposite of what you would expect

From 14 you can consent yourself. You do not have to tell a parent or a partner.

But a hospital may still require a guardian’s consent under its Bundesland’s hospital law - which can make the hospital route less confidential than a private clinic.

Under 14, a guardian’s consent is always required - and insurance covers the cost.

Counselling that will never refer you

Some services present as neutral but do not refer for abortion and are working to change your mind. Most disclose this if you read closely - the problem is less deception than search visibility plus a clock.

Three questions sort it quickly: do they name providers or refer? Do they state their stance and funding openly? Is the legally required medical conversation available there, or is this an extra step?

A service can be sincere, well-meaning, and still cost you a week you do not have.

Next step