Austria: Minister calls for maternity law reform after court ruling

Following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Austria (OGH), Family Minister Claudia Bauer (ÖVP) is calling for legislative changes to maternity protection laws regarding pregnancy loss.

The court recently ruled in favor of a self-employed woman whose claim for maternity allowance (Wochengeld) had been denied because the fetus weighed less than 500 grams. Under current Austrian law, the Midwifery Act uses a 500-gram threshold to distinguish between a stillbirth and a miscarriage. However, the OGH determined that this weight limit is not an absolute criterion for social security claims.

In the specific case, the court noted that the woman experienced physical and psychological burdens, including labor and the need to breastfeed, comparable to those of a birth exceeding 500 grams. Minister Bauer described the ruling as a “milestone” and argued that the consequences of pregnancy loss cannot be measured in grams. She is advocating for a tiered maternity protection system to avoid the need for case-by-case assessments and to reduce the administrative burden on social security providers.