Poland: Thousands protest for more abortion rights

Thousands of people took part in abortion-rights demonstrations across Poland on Thursday, including in the capital Warsaw and more than 20 other cities.

Abortion is legal in Poland only when the pregnancy is the result of a criminal act like rape or incest, or when it endangers the life or health of the mother. As a result, most abortions are carried out secretly.

The protesters held placards with slogans such as "Women's hell continues” and “Men of quality don't fear equality."

Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in 2023 after pledging to loosen Poland's abortion restrictions. But disagreements among members of his governing coalition have hampered efforts to change the law, and protesters have accused the government of breaking its promise.

What is the current legal framework?

Abortion has been legal in the overwhelmingly Catholic country since 1993, but only in cases involving a threat to the mother's life or health, a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or severe fetal abnormalities.

In 2020, under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, abortion laws were tightened even further, and abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities were banned.

Activists say tens of thousands of abortions take place outside hospitals each year.

Women who undergo secret abortions, for instance by taking pills, do not face criminal responsibility. However, people who help them, including doctors and family members, can potentially be prosecuted and face up to three years in prison.

Activists question government’s reform push

The protests on Thursday came just days after Poland’s parliament passed two bills that would ease abortion restrictions but which are expected to be vetoed by the country’s President Karol Nawrocki, a politician with the backing of the conservative PiS opposition.

"These are breadcrumbs," Kinga Jelinska, director of the Women Help Women Foundation and co-founder of the Abortion Dream Team, told news agency AFP.

The activists said that passing the draft laws one year before the next parliamentary election was a token gesture with no chance of passing into law.

They accused the liberal Tusk government of merely creating the impression of taking action because it needed women's votes in the upcoming election.