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VIENNA (LifeSiteNews) — One of Austria’s oldest and largest abortion facilities has reportedly been closed indefinitely.

The pro-abortion organization “Pro Choice Austria” released a statement on March 29 announcing that the “pro:woman” abortion facility in the center of Vienna “has stopped performing abortions and will be closed.”

In the weeks leading up to the announcement, rumors were going around that the infamous clinic had stopped operation and might be closing down soon.

“Pro Choice Austria” has now confirmed that the “pro:woman” abortion mill stopped killing unborn children in February 2023.

“This creates a tight supply situation in Vienna,” the pro-abortion organization lamented in its statement. “It is clear that the inadequate framework conditions are making the situation precarious: medically safe [sic] abortion is still criminalized under Austrian law, and the Vienna city government, as well as the federal states, rely on there being enough supply in the private market.”

The “pro:women” clinic did not only offer abortion to Austrian women but was also known as an important hub for Eastern European women seeking abortions abroad.

“Pro Choice Austria” was not the only group concerned about the closure of the internationally known facility. Vienna’s pro-abortion Green Party issued a press release on March 30, lamenting the reduced supply of abortion.

The Green Party confirmed that “[f]or more than 40 years, Pro:woman has been a well-known contact point for unintentionally pregnant women far beyond Vienna.”

“The fact that the pro:woman outpatient clinic is currently closed is extremely worrying,” the spokesperson for women and social affairs of the Green Party Vienna, Viktoria Spielmann said.

“On the one hand, because the outpatient clinic treated women from abroad and the closure poses a major problem, especially for women from countries such as Poland, where there is now a de facto ban on abortion. On the other hand, because the outpatient clinic offered a welfare rate to support socially disadvantaged women when getting an abortion. This worsens the health situation for unintentionally pregnant women in Vienna.”

Pro-life movement in Austria thankful to God for answered prayers

The “pro:woman” clinic opened in 1979 and there were likely hundreds of thousands of abortions carried out in the infamous abortion mill in its more than 40 years of operation. Austria does not keep official statistics on abortions, however, in 2009, representatives of the “pro:woman” clinic estimated that about 35,000 abortions were carried out every year in their clinic alone. About ten years ago, the number of operational days in the clinic was reduced from six to two or three a week.

The Austrian Catholic and pro-life activist Alexander Tschugguel told LifeSiteNews that the closure of the abortion center was “a huge joy of course for the Austrian pro-life movement” and “the result of decades of prayer in front of this clinic.”

Tschugguel cautioned though that “we must not praise the whole thing too highly” since “unfortunately, there are other abortion clinics in Vienna that have performed significantly more abortions than this one in recent years.”

“Yet it is a very important sign, as this abortion clinic has existed for ages and was very well-known throughout Austria.”

“Let’s thank God and let’s thank all the brave and great people who have been praying there for decades,” Tschugguel concluded.

One of the main organizations involved in the pro-life movement in Vienna has been the Austrian branch of Human Life International (HLI), which runs a pro-life pregnancy counseling center in the vicinity of the now-closed abortion clinic. Since 1997, HLI Austria has been holding monthly prayer vigils in front of the prominent abortion mill.

HLI Austria director Dietmar Fischer responded to the abortion mill’s closure by quoting the words of the Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree.”

Fischer told LifeSiteNews that “[f]or us, the closure of Austria’s largest killing site is a great day of joy and a special sign that the patient commitment to life is worthwhile and that Heaven has heard the prayers and sacrifices of our many fellow campaigners.”

“Since in the battle for life, it is above all the spiritual dimension that is crucial, for the last 26 years our prayer warriors and counselors in front of the clinic have been invoking Heaven daily, with the rosary in their hands, asking for help from Mary, the victor in all God’s battles, as well as from St. Joseph, the terror of the demons.”

“I can only recommend to all pro-lifers to see the spiritual dimension as a basis in the fight for life because the real enemy of life is the devil, the old serpent, the father of lies and murderer from the beginning and his earthly henchmen,” Fischer said. “Since we have to fight against powers and forces, we as human beings are powerless without the help of Heaven, but if we take the help from above, the enemies of life are in reality ‘poor devils’ and have no chance in the long run!”

“Well over 20,000 rescued children in Austria owe their lives to the commitment of many prayer warriors and faithful donors as well as to our volunteers on site (in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, and Hohenems); some of [the rescued babies] have already completed their studies now at the age of 25,” Fischer continued. “Their joy in life, as well as the gratitude of their families, are a great motivation to continue faithfully in this long, often bleak commitment to life.”

The reasons for the facility’s closure remain unclear. Tschugguel told LifeSiteNews that the facility may have closed because it was “no longer economically viable” but he said he did not know for certain. Fischer from HLI Austria also thought that the clinic was closed due to economic reasons. He added that “due to the morning-after pill and increasing infertility (Corona vaccines!)” the abortion business is declining.

READ: Germany sees significant decline in live births 9 months after COVID jab rollout

Many pro-lifers in Austria rejoice that God answered their prayers. Last year, 40 Days for Life Vienna had its prayer station right across the street from the infamous “pro:woman” clinic. At the time the organizer told LifeSiteNews that “we can trust that by God’s grace, miracles happen in secret every day. According to Abby Johnson, there are up to 75 percent fewer abortions when people pray outside the clinic.”

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