- Abortion legal status
- Illegal
- Emergency number
- 112
Updated July 2026 · Sources cited: bali-advice.com, jungleclububud.com
Good to know
Good to Know
- Emergency contraception is easy to get from Ubud pharmacies in practice, but don't assume it's on open shelves — you may need to ask the pharmacist directly and be prepared to describe what you need in simple terms.
- Pharmacy stock in Ubud is more limited than in your home country — some familiar brands (NuvaRing, for example) are essentially unavailable in Indonesia, so if you rely on a specific pill brand, it's safer to bring a supply with you.
- For anything beyond the pill or emergency contraception (IUD insertion, implants), plan on a trip to a hospital or dedicated OB-GYN clinic in Denpasar rather than expecting full gynecological services within Ubud itself.
- If you experience assault in Ubud, Bali-based crisis and legal-aid organizations (like the Bali Women Crisis Center) can be reached by phone even though their physical office is outside Ubud — you don't need to travel there first to get initial support.
- Contacting your embassy or consulate early after an assault can help connect you with English-speaking doctors and legal referrals, since local police interactions may be slow or complicated by language and cultural stigma around reporting.
- Abortion in Indonesia is illegal except for rape, sexual assault, or a life-threatening medical emergency, and only within 14 weeks of pregnancy as of a 2024 rule change — there is no legal route for elective abortion anywhere in the country, including Bali.
- If you need an abortion consultation for a medically or legally qualifying reason, expect this to be handled discreetly and cautiously by hospitals due to the criminal penalties involved for providers; a hospital in the Denpasar/Sanur area (rather than a small Ubud clinic) is the realistic starting point.
- For everyday women's health needs (contraception refills, STI checks, routine gynecology, prenatal visits), Ubud's own clinics like BIMC Ubud, Ubud Clinic by Kasih Ibu, UbudCare, and Toya Medika can help or refer you onward.
- For anything more specialized — high-risk pregnancy, gynecological surgery, fertility issues — plan on a 30-45 minute trip to Denpasar, Sanur, or Kuta, where the larger Kasih Ibu, BIMC, and Siloam hospitals have dedicated OBGYN specialists.
- Many Bali-based OBGYNs who work with expats speak good English, but it's worth confirming this and the consultation fee (which is separate from tests like ultrasounds or bloodwork) before your appointment.
Street, Night and Taxi Safety
Street Harassment
Documented reports for Bali overall describe unwanted attention and catcalling as an occasional rather than constant issue, with sources noting that "catcalling can happen late at night" in busy nightlife areas. This is a country/island-level finding rather than something specifically documented for Ubud, where persistent market vendors are the more commonly reported nuisance rather than harassment.
Walking Alone at Night
Central streets such as Jalan Raya Ubud, Jalan Hanoman and Monkey Forest Road stay busy with shops, restaurants and foot traffic into the evening, and local guides describe these core areas as comfortable to walk. The same sources are consistent that once you leave this core — especially toward rice fields or residential villa lanes — streets become dark, quiet and lack sidewalks, and advise against walking those stretches alone at night, using a ride instead for longer or unfamiliar routes.
Uneven Footing Is a Bigger Night Hazard Than Crime
Multiple local sources flag that the main physical risk walking in Ubud after dark isn't crime but infrastructure — cracked or narrow sidewalks and open drains or potholes that are hard to see at night. The recommended precaution is to use a phone flashlight and walk slowly rather than rushing, particularly once outside the well-lit main streets.
Taxis and Ride-hailing
For transport, sources recommend Grab or Gojek (ride-hailing apps that are trackable and cashless) or metered Blue Bird taxis over unmarked street taxis, which may refuse to use the meter, especially after midnight. Ubud has good Gojek/Grab coverage, but it is also named as one of the areas in Bali with "no ride-hailing zones," where local taxi cooperatives can block app drivers from picking up — in that situation the advice is to walk a short distance to a different road or arrange a local driver rather than negotiate with an unmarked car.
Practical Precautions Commonly Recommended
General guidance for women traveling in Bali, inclusive of Ubud, includes watching your drink at bars and never leaving it unattended, avoiding isolated streets or beaches after dark, sharing your itinerary or live location with someone, and keeping valuables out of sight in crowded areas like markets. These are island-wide recommendations rather than Ubud-specific findings, but are repeated consistently across sources covering the town.
Abortion Law
- Summary
- Abortion is illegal in Indonesia as a general rule, with narrow statutory exceptions. There is no route to elective or on-request abortion anywhere in the country, including Bali/Ubud.
- Penalties
- Outside the permitted exceptions, a woman who obtains an abortion risks up to 4 years in prison under the 2022 Criminal Code. Anyone who assists in an illegal abortion (doctor, midwife, paramedic, pharmacist) can face 5 years, or up to 12 years if the woman did not consent, with sentences increased by a further third for healthcare workers acting outside the permitted scenarios.
- Legal Status
- illegal
- Abortion Time Limit
- Indonesia raised its legal window for abortion under these exceptions from 6 weeks to 14 weeks of pregnancy via a 2024 health regulation signed by President Joko Widodo, aligning more closely with WHO guidance.
Exceptions
- Pregnancy resulting from rape or sexual assault
- Medical emergency where the pregnancy threatens the woman's life
- Severe/lethal fetal anomaly (if the woman is married, her husband must also consent to the procedure)
Additional Notes
- Abortion is explicitly and strictly prohibited for pregnancies resulting from consensual sex outside marriage (adultery), even under the 2024 rule change.
- In practice, access even for legally-eligible women (e.g. rape survivors) is inconsistent; police and hospital staff have in some documented cases refused to facilitate legal abortions despite eligibility.
- There is no legal, licensed abortion-service industry to speak of in Bali; this is a criminalized, stigmatized area of Indonesian law, and there is no 'fully legal and regulated' pricing to report.
- A Bali case in 2023 involved police arresting an unlicensed practitioner (a dentist without medical licensing) for performing illegal abortions on well over a thousand patients over two years, illustrating both demand and the unsafe/unregulated market this creates.
- Postabortion care (treating miscarriage or complications from unsafe abortion) is legal and available at hospitals, distinct from the abortion procedure itself.
OB-GYN Options
- Typical Consultation Cost
- IDR 400,000
Indicative starting price for a gynecology consultation plus ultrasound at private Bali clinics/hospitals (not Ubud-specific, but representative of network pricing patients in Ubud would pay at referral hospitals)
- Honest Context
- Ubud itself has general/urgent-care clinics that can perform basic gynecological consults, ultrasounds, and pregnancy checks, but dedicated full-service OBGYN specialist hospitals are concentrated in the Denpasar/Sanur/Kuta area, roughly 30-45 minutes away by car. Clinics in Ubud typically triage and refer more complex cases (surgery, high-risk pregnancy, specialist gynecology) to those larger hospitals.
In Ubud Clinics
BIMC Ubud Medical Centre
- Type
- Private 24-hour medical/emergency centre (Siloam Group)
- Location
- Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud
- Notes
- Part of the BIMC international-standard hospital network, accredited by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. English-speaking staff, caters heavily to foreigners. Provides general practitioner, emergency, radiology and lab services; suited for initial women's-health concerns and urgent issues, with referral to full OBGYN specialists at larger BIMC/Siloam facilities for anything beyond general care.
Ubud Clinic by Kasih Ibu Hospital
- Type
- Clinic linked to the Kasih Ibu private hospital network
- Location
- Jl. Sugriwa, central Ubud
- Notes
- General consultations and dental care on-site, with the ability to fast-track referrals to specialists (including obstetrics/gynecology) within the Kasih Ibu hospital network.
UbudCare Clinic
- Type
- General private clinic
- Location
- Jl. Sukma Kesuma No.37 and Jl. Raya Teges No.8, Peliatan, Ubud
- Notes
- General practice clinic used by expats for everyday health issues; can assist with initial women's health consults and coordinate specialist referrals.
Toya Medika Clinic
- Type
- 24-hour general/emergency clinic
- Location
- Jl. Raya Pengosekan, Ubud (near Monkey Forest)
- Notes
- Open around the clock, offers home visits; useful for urgent gynecological concerns outside office hours, though not a dedicated OBGYN specialty center.
Assault Resources
Indonesian National Police Emergency Line
- Type
- Emergency police
- Contact
- 110
- Coverage
- National
- Notes
- General police emergency number; can be used to report assault anywhere in Indonesia, including Ubud. English-language support is not guaranteed, especially outside major tourist offices.
Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Violence Against Women)
- Type
- Government reporting body
- Contact
- 021-3903963 (phone), pengaduan@komnasperempuan.go.id, online reporting form
- Coverage
- National
- Notes
- Indonesia's independent state commission for women's rights. Accepts complaints and referrals related to sexual and gender-based violence.
SAPA 129 (Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Service)
- Type
- Government shelter and hotline
- Contact
- Government-run, coordinated via Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA)
- Coverage
- National
- Notes
- A government program established to provide temporary shelter and case coordination for violence victims, launched in 2023.
Bali Women Crisis Center (LBH BWCC)
- Type
- NGO crisis center
- Contact
- +62 361 8444352, lbhbwcc@gmail.com
- Coverage
- Bali-wide
- Notes
- A long-running Balinese NGO offering legal aid and crisis support to women who have experienced violence, including sexual assault and domestic abuse.
- Location Note
- Physically based in Kerobokan, Badung — roughly 45–60 minutes from Ubud by car, so best used as a phone/email resource rather than a walk-in option for Ubud-based nomads.
Foreign Consulate/embassy Consular Assistance
- Type
- Consular support
- Contact
- Varies by nationality — contact your country's embassy or consulate in Jakarta, or the honorary consulate/consular agent in Bali if your country has one
- Coverage
- Bali/national
- Notes
- Consular officers cannot give legal or medical advice but can provide lists of English-speaking doctors, lawyers, and can support reporting logistics for foreign victims of sexual assault.
Contraception And Emergency Contraception
- Overview
- Contraception is widely and legally available in Indonesia, including in Ubud, without the strict prescription barriers seen in some other countries. Access is mainly through pharmacies (apotek) and private clinics rather than free public-health channels for foreigners.
IUD
- Availability
- IUD insertion and removal is available in Indonesia and is offered by some private clinics and hospitals, generally by appointment, ideally scheduled for days 5–8 of the menstrual cycle.
- Pricing Note
- No reliable Ubud-specific pricing data was found; costs vary significantly by clinic and IUD type (hormonal vs. copper) and should be confirmed directly with the provider.
- Location Note
- Full gynecological services, including IUD insertion, are more reliably found at hospitals and OB-GYN clinics in Denpasar (roughly 45–60 minutes from Ubud) than at small Ubud clinics, though some Ubud-area clinics can refer or coordinate care.
Implant
- Availability
- Contraceptive implants are used in Indonesia — injectable and implantable methods are among the most common forms of contraception nationally — but are typically administered through hospitals, OB-GYN clinics, or midwife-run health posts rather than retail pharmacies.
- Pricing Note
- No reliable Ubud-specific pricing data was found; nomads should expect to consult a private clinic or hospital in the Denpasar/South Bali area for exact costs.
Birth Control Pill
- Availability
- Available over-the-counter at most pharmacies (apotek) in Ubud without a prescription in practice, though pharmacy selection is limited compared to Western countries.
- Common Brands
- Levonorgestrel-based pills, Microgynon, Microgynon-30, and Nordette are commonly stocked; a Drospirenone/Ethinylestradiol combination and an Ethinylestradiol/Cyproterone acetate combination are also sold under various brand names.
Typical Pricing
Ethinylestradiol/Cyproterone Acetate Combination Pill (Most Common Brand)
- Ethinylestradiol/Cyproterone Acetate Combination Pill (Most Common Brand)
- IDR 150,000
Drospirenone/Ethinylestradiol Combination Pill
- Drospirenone/Ethinylestradiol Combination Pill
- IDR 250,000
Other Antiandrogenic Combination Pill
- Other Antiandrogenic Combination Pill
- IDR 330,000
Emergency Contraception
- Brands
- Dedicated emergency contraception brands such as ellaOne (effective up to 120 hours after unprotected sex, one pill) and Postinor-2 (two pills within 120 hours) can be found at pharmacies.
- Legal Status
- Technically prescription-only under Indonesian regulation, but this is not strictly enforced in Ubud in practice.
- Backup Method
- If dedicated emergency contraception is unavailable, the first 21 pills of a 28-day combined oral contraceptive pack (e.g., Levonorgestrel Pill, Microgynon, Microgynon-30, or Nordette) can be used as a replacement using the Yuzpe method, though this is less effective and should follow correct dosing/timing guidance.
- Delivery Option
- Some private pharmacy delivery services operating across Bali (including Ubud) offer discreet delivery of emergency contraception, which can be useful outside normal pharmacy hours.
- Practical Access
- Pharmacists in Ubud commonly sell emergency contraception over the counter without asking for a prescription, though it may not be displayed openly on shelves — you may need to ask directly at the counter.
Legal And Cultural Context
Indonesia's Penal Code narrowly defines rape, and Bali (as part of Indonesia) is subject to national law rather than separate regional statutes. Reporting rates for sexual assault are low due to stigma, and cases involving foreign visitors are sometimes handled in coordination with the visitor's embassy.
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this women's health & safety research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Ubud
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.