1975: The “time-limit rule” Comes into Force
Abortions in the first three months are exempt from punishment
Under the Fristenregelung, or “time-limit rule”, an abortion carried out by a doctor at the request of the pregnant woman during the first three months of pregnancy is exempt from punishment. The rule came into effect on 1 January 1975 in conjunction with the major reform of the penal code initiated by Minister of Justice Christian Broda. This legislative reform marked a pivotal moment in a political conflict – one suppressed under Nazism – that had been running for decades around the strict ban on abortion, a ban that had been in place in Austria for centuries.
While a range of women’s movements, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party had demanded liberalisation of the law, the measure was vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church and the People’s Party. Time and again since the 1970s, the practical application of the Fristenregelung has met with resistance in different federal states and it has repeatedly sparked political disputes.
