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Polish court further limits the possibility of abortion

The Constitutional Court in Poland says aborting a fetus with an abnormality is against the constitution. This means that in practice it becomes even more difficult to have an abortion; this is only possible if the pregnancy is life-threatening for the woman or if she has become pregnant through rape or incest.

Irreparable health damage or, for example, an abnormality such as Down’s syndrome were the most frequently cited reasons for Polish women to have a fetus removed. That this possibility exists is a thorn in the side of conservative MPs. They called for a ban because the law would violate an article in the constitution protecting the right to life. The court agrees with them.

Earlier attempt

In 2018 the conservative Polish government tried to curtail the abortion law in the same way, but that was then not enforced due to massive protests against it.

The Polish Abortion Law came into effect in 1993. It was a hard-won compromise between the then government and the Catholic Church, which has a lot of influence in predominantly Catholic Poland. According to the Ministry of Health, 1,110 abortions were performed in 2019, the majority of which were an abnormality in the fetus.

Polish women who wish to undergo an abortion are expected to move abroad even more often than before.

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