Poland’s lower house votes to ease abortion restrictions as presidential veto looms

Poland’s lower house voted on October 20 to ease abortion restrictions, approving bills that would decriminalize helping someone obtain an abortion and restore access in cases of severe fetal abnormality. The measures would affect patients and people assisting them, but must still pass the Senate and face President Karol Nawrocki, who has signalled opposition to liberalization.

What the two abortion bills would change

The Sejm passed the bill on assistance by 217 votes to 213, with three abstentions, Politico Europe reported. It would end criminal penalties for assisting or encouraging an abortion outside the grounds currently permitted by law. That offence can now carry a prison sentence of up to three years.

The second bill passed 233 to 203, with one abstention. It would permit a termination when doctors identify a severe and irreversible fetal abnormality or an incurable illness threatening the fetus’s viability. It would also set deadlines for hospitals to provide lawful abortions and require written explanations when they refuse, Politico reported.

Neither measure would allow abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Reuters reported that a separate proposal to do so remains under consideration in parliamentary committees. Under current law, abortion is permitted in cases of rape or incest, or when a woman’s life or health is at risk, Reuters reported.

Why the reforms face a presidential hurdle

The bills now go to the Senate. Nawrocki said before his 2025 election that he would not sign legislation easing abortion rules, Politico reported. The governing coalition lacks the three-fifths majority in the Sejm needed to override a presidential veto. His decision on these bills has yet to be made.

The votes follow years of dispute over Poland’s abortion rules. Reuters reported that a 2021 near-total ban followed a constitutional court ruling against terminations for fetal abnormalities and prompted widespread protests. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition won the 2023 election partly on a pledge to ease restrictions, but its parties have differed over how far to go.

The two proposals spent about two years in a parliamentary committee, Politico reported. An earlier attempt to decriminalize abortion assistance failed in the Sejm in July 2024 by 218 votes to 215. Some lawmakers from the governing Polish People’s Party and Poland 2050 voted against the latest bills, according to Politico.

Leah Hoctor, vice-president for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Reuters that the bills represented limited reform and would not improve access for most women in Poland who need abortion care. Her assessment underscores the gap between the measures approved by the Sejm and the broader access Tusk’s Civic Coalition promised during the 2023 campaign.