Poland's parliament votes to loosen abortion ban, presidential veto looms
Poland's lower house of parliament has approved two bills easing the country's near-total abortion ban, but the measures face a likely veto from Poland's nationalist president.
Poland's parliament votes to loosen abortion ban, presidential veto looms
Poland's lower house of parliament has approved two bills aimed at loosening the country's near-total abortion ban under the current poland abortion law, though the measures may stop short of changing it: they are likely to be vetoed by Poland's nationalist president.
What the bills would change
If enacted, the two bills would remove some of the criminal penalties for those who help women to access abortion care and would allow terminations in cases of foetal abnormalities.
The current law leaves Polish women with very narrow grounds for a legal termination:
- Abortion is only legal in Poland when a pregnancy results from a criminal act such as rape or incest.
- Termination is also permitted when the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the mother.
Likely veto and critics' doubts
The new measures face a likely veto from Poland's nationalist president.
Reproductive-rights advocates have also questioned how much the bills would achieve. Leah Hoctor of the Center for Reproductive Rights said the proposals fall far short of what women in the country need.
"These bills represent a very small-scale change."
In her assessment, the change would mean very little for most Polish women needing abortion care, and Poland would remain "completely out of step with the rest of its EU peers" even if the bills were passed.
A spokesperson for the NGO Legalna Aborcja was blunter about the bills' practical effect.
"What does this mean for women who need an abortion right now? Nothing, because none of these bills would help them."
Protests mark 2020 ruling anniversary
The vote comes as campaigners return to the streets. Fundacja Widzialne called for protests on Thursday and announced rallies in 27 cities, writing on social media that "Poland still has an inhumane abortion law" and demanding full decriminalisation of abortion along with National Health Fund coverage.
The rallies mark the sixth anniversary of a 2020 ruling that tightened the country's already-restrictive abortion rules. That ruling prompted the largest protests in Poland since the fall of communism, with placards reading "The revolution has a uterus" and "My body, my choice".
Tusk's broken pledge and the moratorium call
The 2020 demonstrations were credited with helping to propel Donald Tusk into power in 2023 on promises to overhaul abortion laws within 100 days. By last year he had backtracked on the pledge to legalise abortions until the 12th week of pregnancy, saying there was "simply no majority" to reform the laws.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has since called on Tusk to put in place an interim moratorium on the application of all criminal law provisions concerning abortion, so that carers no longer face criminal investigation. The moratorium idea was first floated by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which in 2024 concluded that women in Poland faced severe human rights violations under the restrictive laws.
Hoctor noted that women are not waiting for the law to change: thousands in Poland access abortion care every year, doing so illegally or travelling abroad for it. The Center for Reproductive Rights, meanwhile, has urged Tusk to act through an interim moratorium.
