Polish lawmakers vote to ease abortion restrictions, but president may veto bills
Poland's lower house of parliament has approved two bills that would ease some of the country's strict abortion restrictions, although conservative President Karol Nawrocki is expected to oppose the changes, Bloomberg and Politico reported on Oct. 21.
The first bill would restore access to abortion in cases of severe fetal abnormalities, a provision effectively eliminated by a Constitutional Tribunal ruling in 2020. Lawmakers approved the proposal by 233 votes to 203.
A second bill, passed by a narrower margin of 217 to 213, would decriminalize assistance in obtaining an abortion that is otherwise illegal. Under current Polish law, providing such assistance can carry a prison sentence of up to three years.
Both bills must still pass the Senate before reaching Nawrocki, who has previously opposed liberalizing abortion laws.
Zbigniew Bogucki, the head of the president's office, told Polsat TV that Nawrocki supports protecting life from conception until natural death, signaling a possible veto.
Poland has some of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws. Following the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling, which took effect in January 2021, abortion has generally been permitted only when a pregnancy results from rape or incest, or when the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk.
The ruling triggered mass protests across Poland.
Wednesday's parliamentary votes mark a step toward relaxing those restrictions, but neither proposal would establish unrestricted access to abortion, and neither has yet become law.
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