Abortion in Poland
Abortion in Poland is legal only in cases when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act or when the woman’s life or health is at risk.[1] The last change in the Act on pregnancy planning of the Republic of Poland took place on 27 January 2021, when publication of the judgment of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in the Dziennik Ustaw RP took place.
Abortion law in Poland
Poland’s 1956 abortion law permitted abortion on demand without state control or reporting mechanisms. It has been estimated that this liberal law resulted in as many as 400,000 abortions in 1962 alone.Â
After the Communist regime ended, a new law was passed in March 1993 to provide legal protection to “conceived children.” This law allowed abortion only when the pregnancy constitutes a threat to the life or a serious threat to the health of the mother, the fetus is irreversibly damaged, or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
Opponents of this law predicted it would result in prosecution of a huge number of women and that it would have an adverse effect on maternal mortality rates. However, there have been only a few court cases to date, and maternal mortality is decreasing.Â
Woman’s death spurs calls for change
If Anka Adamczyk were to ever have a child, she would leave Poland to give birth.
“It’s … super scary,” the 35-year-old told Al Jazeera by phone from Warsaw. “The consequences are so horrible that I would really not take the risk.”
She is among the women who are now struggling to even consider childbirth because of the country’s strict abortion laws, which have seen doctors refuse to terminate pregnancies even when complications pose a fatal risk.
When Poland’s Catholic Church-influenced government put a near-total ban on abortion on October 22, 2020, alongside other measures in place to encourage people to have children, mass protests – the biggest since the fall of communism – erupted across the nation.
In recent months, the death of a 30-year-old woman shocked the nation and again sparked nationwide protests.
The woman known only as Izabel is considered the first victim of Poland’s new laws and some fear the same could happen to them.
In September, Izabel, who hails from the southern city of Pszczyna, died of septic shock after doctors refused to remove her fetus, which had been diagnosed with defects. Rallies broke out in November, when the case became widely known.
Izabel Cedro, 34, from Warsaw, describes life in the past year as “chilling”, saying many women she knows live in “fear and anxiety”.
“It might happen to you, it might happen to your best friend, it might happen to your daughter,” Cedro told Al Jazeera, referring to Izabel’s death.
If Cedro needed an abortion, she would go to a neighbouring country such as Austria or the Czech Republic to have the procedure.
But she is aware not everyone has that option.
“It will be more difficult for women who live in rural small villages, where everybody knows everybody, or [those] who are dependent financially on somebody else,” she said.
Poland clarifies abortion law
The guidance was issued on Sunday, a day after mass protests over the death.
The 30-year-old woman died of sepsis 22 weeks into her pregnancy, which had complications.
Her family say life-saving care was delayed because doctors feared breaking Poland’s restrictive abortion laws.
Acontroversial court ruling last year imposed a near-total ban on abortion in Poland. Abortion is now permitted only in cases of rape or incest or when pregnancy threatens a mother’s health or life.
On Sunday, Poland’s health ministry clarified the latest legal regulations and medical recommendations on abortion in response to the mother’s death.
The guidance says if a mother’s life or health is at risk, doctors “must not be afraid of making obvious decisions” about abortions.
The woman, named Izabela, died in September but her family’s lawyer brought the case to wider attention this month.
The lawyer said doctors had been aware of severe foetal defects but refused to perform an abortion because a heartbeat could still be detected. The mother sent a text saying her fever was rising and she was worried about going into septic shock, which then led to her death.
Access to safe, legal and free abortion services must be guaranteed
They reiterate their strong condemnation of the illegitimate Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling of 22 October 2020 imposing a near-total ban on abortion and putting women’s health and lives at risk. They urge the Polish government to swiftly and fully guarantee access to safe, legal and free abortion services for all women.
MEPs regret that, due to this restrictive legislation, women have to seek unsafe abortions, travel abroad to obtain abortions or carry their pregnancy to term against their will, including in cases of fatal foetal impairment. Parliament thus calls on member states to cooperate more effectively to facilitate cross-border access to abortion, for example by granting Polish women access to a free and safe abortion in other national healthcare systems.
