Poland's parliament votes to ease strict abortion restrictions

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 16:20 · Archive

Poland's lower house approved two bills to loosen abortion restrictions, but President Karol Nawrocki is likely to veto them.

Poland's lower house of parliament approved two bills on Tuesday evening aimed at loosening the country's near-total abortion ban. The measures would end criminal penalties for helping a woman obtain an abortion and re-legalise terminations involving severe fetal abnormalities, reversing elements of the strict 2020 ruling that tightened restrictions.

The bills do not restore abortion on request up to 12 weeks, as Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition had promised during the 2023 election campaign. The multi-party coalition includes many conservatives and lacks agreement on liberalisation going further.

President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the nationalist Law and Justice party, has said he would veto the legislation. Włodzimierz Czarzasty, speaker of the Sejm, said before the vote that refusing to sign the bills would hurt women. Katarzyna Kotula, Poland's government equality commissioner, said 'the state trusts women' and it was time to stop punishing those who help them.

Campaigners described the changes as a 'small-scale step'. Leah Hoctor of the Center for Reproductive Rights said the bills would 'change very little for most women in Poland who need abortion care'. The Fundacja Widzialne called for protests in 27 cities on Thursday, marking the sixth anniversary of the 2020 ruling, demanding full decriminalisation and access to abortion covered by the National Health Fund.

How it is being reported

• Poland’s parliament votes to ease abortion ban but faces likely veto from presidentMeasures would remove some penalties for those who help women access abortion but are ‘small-scale step’, say campaigners Poland’s lower house of parliament has approved two bills aimed at loosening a near-total ban on abortions, in what campaigners have described as a “small-scale step” ahead of protests calling on the government to fulfil its promises to overhaul the country’s laws. The new measures, which are likely to be vetoed by Poland’s nationalist president, would remove some of the criminal penalties for those who help women to access abortion care and allow terminations in cases of…The Guardian · 21 Oct, 15:56
• Poland’s government votes to ease abortion laws in challenge to conservative presidentPresident Karol Nawrocki is aligned with the party that triggered mass protests with its abortion clampdown five years ago, and could veto the government's bills.Politico Europe · 20 Oct, 21:25

In this story: Poland · Karol Nawrocki · Donald Tusk · Law and Justice · Katarzyna Kotula · Włodzimierz Czarzasty · Center for Reproductive Rights

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