Goal: Cash payment – Rauch wants to remove abortions from criminal law

Abortions should be available across the board in public hospitals and should be done without stigma and anonymously for both women and health professionals.

The costs must be covered by social security. Under the time limit solution, abortions are currently unpunished, but still illegal. Anyone who questions this “drives women underground and into a medical emergency,” Rauch said, according to the “Vorarlberger Nachrichten”.

Vorarlberg refuses
According to the report, a no to reimbursing the costs of abortions for non-medical reasons came from the Vorarlberg State Health Council Martina Rüscher (ÖVP). In Vorarlberg, the primary goal remains to enable a “yes to the child”, and the emphasis is on advice. Since December 2023, abortions have been possible as a private service at the LKH Bregenz – the only point of contact in the country.

According to Article 96 of the Criminal Code, in Austria anyone who performs an abortion is punished with a prison sentence of up to one year or a fine of 720 daily rates. If he or she does this professionally or is not a doctor, the law provides for a prison sentence of up to three years. The woman who has an abortion must also expect a prison sentence of up to one year or the aforementioned fine.

However, according to Article 97, the act is not punishable if the abortion is performed within the first three months and after prior medical advice (“time limit solution”). Other reasons for impunity include serious danger to the life or health of the pregnant woman, disability of the child or the immaturity of the pregnant woman. No doctor is obliged to participate in this unless he wants to save the life of the pregnant woman from danger.