Poland’s lower house of parliament rejected a bill on Friday that aimed to remove penalties for individuals assisting with abortions. This decision highlights the deep divisions within the ruling coalition regarding easing one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws. The draft law proposed that individuals helping arrange abortions, such as by providing pills, and doctors performing terminations in the early stages of pregnancy or due to fetal anomalies would no longer face legal repercussions.
Reproductive rights and healthcare remain prominent issues in Poland, which under the previous nationalist government introduced a near-total ban on abortion in 2021. Since assuming power in December, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition, encompassing both moderate left and right-wing parties, has reinstated public funding for IVF and voted to modify regulations on accessing emergency contraception. One of his party’s pre-election promises was to grant access to abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but progress on such bills has been hindered by disagreements within the coalition.
Under the current law, abortion is only permitted in cases involving rape or incest, or when a woman’s health or life is at risk. In April, lawmakers sent four bills proposing to ease abortion restrictions to a special bipartisan committee for review. Friday’s bill was the first of these drafts to be voted on by the lower house. It was rejected by almost half of the lawmakers belonging to the Christian Democratic Third Way party, a member of the government, as well as members of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) and Confederation parties.
Abortion rights advocates have expressed disappointment at the outcome of the vote, arguing that it will continue to deter doctors from performing abortions and expose individuals who help women access abortions to legal risks. “Doctors will still be afraid to perform abortions, and friends can be sent to prison for helping their friend. Women will continue to fear for their health and lives,” Deputy Family Minister Aleksandra Gajewska wrote on the X social media platform.
Work on the remaining abortion bills continues. Two of them propose allowing abortion until 12 weeks, while the third, put forward by the Third Way, reinstates the right to abortion in cases of fetal anomalies, returning to the situation before a 2020 constitutional court ruling. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the PiS party and a staunch opponent of abortion, has vowed to use his presidential veto to prevent Friday’s bill from becoming law if it had passed. He is scheduled to leave office late next year.
