Polish Senate Backs Easing Abortion Rules, Including Restoring Exception for Severe Fetal Defects

In brief

• Poland's Senate approved two bills easing abortion rules after the lower house had already backed them.
• One bill would end criminal liability for helping with abortions in the first 12 weeks; the other would restore legal abortion for severe fetal defects, a ground struck down in 2020.
• Both bills now await President Karol Nawrocki, who is expected to veto them, and the coalition lacks the three-fifths Sejm majority needed to override.

Senate vote on two bills

Poland's Senate voted on Friday to support two changes to the country's abortion law after the lower chamber had already approved them (Auch Senat in Polen stimmt für Lockerung des Abtreibungsrechts – tagesschau.de) (Schwangerschafts-Abbrüche - Auch Polens Senat stimmt für liberalere Abtreibungsregeln – Deutschlandfunk) (Dwie zmiany ws. aborcji. Senat poparł projekty – Rzeczpospolita). The bills were introduced by the centre-left coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The measures still need the signature of President Karol Nawrocki, a conservative, who is expected to refuse it (Senat poparł aborcję z powodu ciężkich wad płodu. O losie ustawy zdecyduje prezydent – deon.pl).

Decriminalising help with abortion

The first bill amends the Criminal Code. It would remove criminal liability for people who help a woman end a pregnancy in violation of the current law, or who encourage her to do so (Sprawa aborcji w Polsce. Senat zdecydował w sprawie dwóch projektów – Dziennik.pl) (Pomoc w aborcji, limity zarobków lekarzy, nowy próg podatkowy. Senat zdecydował – RMF24). The Senate passed it without amendments, with 56 senators in favour and 34 against, and no abstentions. Doctors and midwives would no longer be punished for performing an abortion within the first 12 weeks or for handing a woman an abortion pill.

Restoring the fetal-defect ground

The second bill amends the family planning act. It would again allow abortion when there is a high probability that the fetus has a severe and irreparable defect or an incurable illness threatening its life. This ground had applied until the Constitutional Tribunal ruled in October 2020 that it was unconstitutional, which effectively removed legal abortion for such cases. The Senate approved the bill without amendments by 58 votes to 33, with three abstentions. The Third Way party had originally submitted it to parliament in February 2024.

Next steps

Both bills now go to President Nawrocki. Overriding a veto would require a three-fifths majority in the Sejm, a majority the coalition does not currently have.

Limited impact on travel abroad

Lawyer Sabrina Mana-Walasek told PAP that even if the changes take effect, many Polish women would still choose to have abortions abroad (Aborcja bez kar dla pomagających? Prawniczka wskazuje, czego nadal brakuje – Bankier.pl).