Getting an Abortion in Portugal

Last verified: September 2026.

Who this is for

• You live in Portugal, you are pregnant, and you are thinking about ending the pregnancy.
• You are an immigrant, with or without a residence permit, and want to know your rights.
• You are helping a partner, friend, or daughter find the right hospital and understand the steps.

Not for you if: you want to continue your pregnancy. Read "Having a Baby in Portugal".

In Portugal you can end a pregnancy at your own request up to 10 weeks. The weeks count from the first day of your last period. Only you can make the request. Immigrant women have the same right of access, whatever their legal status.

In the public health service (SNS), you pay no user fee. The rules set a path of about one to two weeks: a first appointment, a wait of at least three days, then the procedure. Contact a hospital or health centre as soon as you can.

Who can ask for it

The law allows an abortion at the woman's request in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It must be done by a doctor, or under a doctor's direction, in an official or officially recognised health establishment.

• You decide. Only the pregnant woman can make the request. No partner or family member can make it for you.
• If you are under 16, a parent or legal guardian makes the request and signs the consent form.
• If you are an immigrant, you have the same right of access as a Portuguese citizen. The health authority (DGS) says this applies whatever your legal situation.
• Everything is confidential. Every person in the health service who takes part is bound by professional secrecy, at every step.

Step 1: book the first appointment

The first appointment is called the consulta prévia. You can reach it in two ways.

1. Book directly with the hospital. Many hospitals on the official list take bookings in person, by phone, or by email.
2. Ask your health centre (centro de saúde) to refer you to the hospital that serves your area.

The DGS publishes a list of every hospital and clinic that does this, with its email, phone number, and appointment hours. It was last updated on 27 August 2026. Some hospitals do not carry out the procedure themselves. They see you first and then send you to a partner hospital, or to a private clinic in Lisbon, under an agreement.

The rules say you should get the first appointment within five days of asking for it. In 2025 the average wait was just under three days.

Step 2: the first appointment

At the first appointment, a doctor or other trained professional:

• confirms how far along you are, usually with an ultrasound scan;
• explains the methods that suit you, with medicines or a short procedure;
• explains the support the state can give if you continue the pregnancy;
• offers you a psychologist or a social worker, if you want one;
• talks to you about contraception for afterwards.

A second doctor, not the one who will do the procedure, certifies that you are no more than 10 weeks pregnant. You get the consent form to take home. You can bring someone with you to every appointment, if you want to.

Step 3: the three-day wait

The law requires a wait of at least three days between the first appointment and handing in your signed consent form. You can hand it in on the day of the procedure. During this time you can ask for a psychologist or a social worker.

The consent form is a standard DGS document. Besides Portuguese, the DGS publishes it in 13 languages: English, Arabic, Bangla, French, German, Hindi, Mandarin, Nepali, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Urdu.

Step 4: the procedure

After you hand in the consent form, the procedure should take place within five days, unless you ask for more time within the legal limit.

• With medicines: you take two different medicines, 36 to 48 hours apart. You do not need to stay in hospital. Take the second dose even if the bleeding has started: bleeding does not mean the pregnancy has ended.
• With a procedure: the pregnancy is removed by suction or scraping (curettage). It takes a few minutes, under local or general anaesthetic. A stay of a few hours is usually enough.

In 2025 almost all abortions in public hospitals (97.7%) used medicines. Half were done at 7 weeks of pregnancy or earlier.

After the abortion

The hospital must prescribe a contraceptive method, if it suits you. It must also book you a family planning appointment within 15 days. When you use medicines, there is also a check-up appointment to make sure the abortion is complete.

Contact the hospital or clinic that treated you straight away if, in the following days, you have:

• a fever above 38°C;
• heavy bleeding;
• strong pain in your belly;
• or you feel very unwell.

What it costs

In the SNS, an abortion is exempt from user fees (taxas moderadoras), so you pay no user fee for it. In the SNS, contraception is free too, including emergency contraception, in family planning appointments at health centres and hospitals.

If you go to a private clinic on your own initiative, the clinic sets its own price. Ask for it before you book. This guide found no official price.

If a doctor refuses

Some doctors are conscientious objectors and do not take part in abortions. A doctor who objects must tell you and refer you, in time, to another professional or service. A public hospital where objectors make the abortion impossible within the legal limits must arrange it at another hospital or clinic. It also pays the costs.

You can choose the public hospital, within the referral network for your area. If a hospital cannot see you in time, contact another hospital on the DGS list, or ask your health centre to refer you. Keep an eye on the dates: the 10-week limit does not stop running while you wait.

After 10 weeks

After 10 weeks, you cannot end a pregnancy at your own request. The law allows it later only in other situations, each with its own time limit:

• up to 12 weeks, to avoid a risk of death or serious, lasting harm to your physical or mental health;
• up to 16 weeks, if the pregnancy is the result of a sexual crime;
• up to 24 weeks, if there are firm grounds to expect the baby to have a serious, incurable illness or malformation (at any time if the foetus cannot survive);
• at any time, if it is the only way to remove a risk of death or serious, irreversible harm to you.

These cases are handled by hospital doctors. For a serious illness or malformation, a committee of doctors at the hospital certifies it.

This guide is general information, not medical or legal advice.

Sources

This guide is written from official Portuguese and EU sources and, for prices and contact details, the providers' own websites.

• Direção-Geral da Saúde, Estabelecimentos oficiais e oficialmente reconhecidos para a realização de interrupção da gravidez (update of 27 August 2026) (Portuguese only; the 10-week limit, who may ask, immigrants' access, confidentiality, and each hospital's contacts and hours)
• Direção-Geral da Saúde, Informação à população: consent forms in 14 languages (Portuguese page; forms in English and 12 other languages)
• Direção-Geral da Saúde, Interrupção da gravidez por opção da mulher: guia informativo (2007) (Portuguese only; the methods, the check-up, and the warning signs)
• Diário da República, Portaria n.º 741-A/2007, de 21 de junho (Portuguese only; the first appointment within five days, the second doctor's certificate, the three-day wait, the five days to the procedure, contraception and the 15-day follow-up, companions, confidentiality, and conscientious objection)
• Direção-Geral da Saúde, Relatório do Registo das Interrupções da Gravidez 2025 (Portuguese only; waiting times, methods and pregnancy length in 2025, the legal grounds and time limits, and free contraception in the SNS)
• Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, Taxas moderadoras do SNS (FAQ, 18 February 2026) (Portuguese only; the user-fee exemption for abortion)

Last verified September 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.