Key facts
- Parliamentary vote on October 20 eased some abortion restrictions.
- New laws would exempt doctors from criminal liability for medically necessary abortions.
- Abortion would be permitted again for severe fetal abnormalities.
- Presidential veto is likely, and the coalition lacks votes to override it.
- Poland would still be among the EU's most restrictive countries on abortion.
Poland's parliament, the Sejm, has voted to ease some of the country's abortion restrictions, though the proposed changes would still leave its laws among the most restrictive in the European Union. The legislation, passed on Tuesday, October 20, would exempt doctors, nurses, and midwives from criminal liability when an abortion is medically necessary to protect a pregnant woman's health or life. It would also re-permit abortion in cases of severe and irreversible fetal abnormalities or an incurable condition threatening the fetus's life, overturning a 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition had pledged to restore reproductive rights, but these changes fall short of a promise for abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation faces an uncertain future, with President Karol Nawrocki, who took office in 2025 and is aligned with the opposition, expected to veto it. Overriding such a veto would require a three-fifths majority in the Sejm, which Tusk's coalition does not possess.