Abortion in Poland

Abortion in Poland is illegal except in cases where the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act or when the woman's life or health is in danger.^[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.^[2]

Poland is one of the few countries in the world where abortion became largely outlawed since the 1990s after decades of permissive liberalized legislation during the communist–era Polish People's Republic.^[3] In 2010, about 10 to 15% of abortions on Polish pregnant women had to be carried out outside Poland due to the strict restraints within their own country.^[4] Poland's abortion law is also one of the most restrictive in the European Union (EU) and Europe in general, along with a group of other traditionally Roman Catholic countries of the region (e.g. Malta, Liechtenstein, the Vatican, Monaco and Andorra).^[5]