Thousands protest across Poland for access to free and legal abortions

Demonstrators gathered on the sixth anniversary of a near-total abortion ban imposed by Poland’s highest court.

Al Jazeera2026-10-23 00:54查看原文 ↗

Demonstrators gathered on the sixth anniversary of a near-total abortion ban imposed by Poland’s highest court.

Young people in Warsaw shout slogans calling on the government to fulfil its promises to decriminalise abortion in Poland [Mladen Antonov/AFP]

Thousands of people have protested in more than 20 towns and cities across Poland, calling for access to free and legal abortion services.

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list 2 of 4 How women are resisting Poland’s abortion ban

list 3 of 4 Poland’s ban on abortion forces many to seek help in Germany

list 4 of 4 Women call for tougher EU stance on Poland’s abortion laws

Currently, abortion is only legal in Poland when a pregnancy results from a criminal act like rape or incest, or when it threatens the life or health of the mother.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government promised to liberalise abortion laws ahead of its 2023 election victory, but divisions within the coalition have slowed progress.

The demonstrations come days after parliament passed two bills that would ease abortion restrictions in the mostly Catholic country, but are likely to be vetoed by Poland’s conservative President Karol Nawrocki.

Passing the draft laws now, a year before the next parliamentary election, is a case of “token gestures” rather than a genuine effort to reform abortion law, said Zofia Marcinek of the Abortion Dream Team, a reproductive rights activist group in Warsaw.

She said the liberal government knew the draft laws stand no chance of withstanding Nawrocki’s veto, and has merely tried to create the impression of taking action because it needs women’s support to win elections next year.

In the capital, Warsaw, about 1,000 protesters demonstrated in front of parliament despite rain.

“Over the last six years, nothing has really changed,” said 36-year-old Emilia Niemiec, who manages the AboTak abortion centre, which provides women with access to resources, including pills, and a space to be able to seek support or carry out a pharmacological abortion.

Two young women demonstrate with placards reading ‘How much longer do we have to wait?’ as they attend a nationwide pro-abortion rights protest [Mladen Antonov/AFP]

Abortion laws tightened

Restrictive abortion laws have been in place in Poland since 1993, with Polish women leading calls for the legalisation of abortion ever since. In 2016, nationwide demonstrations took place, with women donning black as a sign of protest.

But rather than being relaxed, Poland’s abortion laws were tightened further, banning abortions of foetuses with congenital defects in 2020 under the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Despite the laws, abortions remain common in Poland, with the overwhelming majority carried out by women at home using pills obtained from outside the country. Women who undergo abortions, including by taking pills, do not face criminal responsibility under Polish law. But people helping them, including doctors and family, can potentially be prosecuted.

Polish hospitals performed 573 abortions in the first half of 2026, compared with 452 in the whole of 2022 before Tusk came to power, according to data from the National Health Fund. But activists say tens of thousands of abortions happen yearly outside of hospitals.

Campaigners organising Thursday’s protests are claiming the Tusk government has betrayed Polish women – and that Tusk’s claims that women’s access to abortion has improved during his administration have actually complicated getting care for some women.

“The government’s promises act as a type of disinformation,” Marcinek said. “Women getting pregnant hear the prime minister say that everything is OK, that there is access to abortion, and then they end up in the hospital and see that is not the case. So they come to us when it’s very late and very complicated and expensive to help them.”

在波兰最高法院颁布近乎全面的堕胎禁令六周年之际，示威者聚集在一起。

华沙的年轻人高喊口号，呼吁政府履行其在波兰将堕胎合法化的承诺。[Mladen Antonov/AFP]

波兰各地 20 多个城镇的数千人举行抗议活动，呼吁提供免费合法的堕胎服务。

列表 1/4：全球最严苛的堕胎法概览

列表 2/4：波兰女性如何抵制堕胎禁令

波兰禁止堕胎迫使许多人到德国寻求帮助（列表 3/4）

名单4/4：女性呼吁欧盟对波兰堕胎法采取更强硬立场

目前，在波兰，只有当怀孕是由于强奸或乱伦等犯罪行为造成的，或者威胁到母亲的生命或健康时，堕胎才是合法的。

总理唐纳德·图斯克领导的政府在 2023 年大选获胜前承诺放宽堕胎法，但联合政府内部的分歧减缓了这一进程。

就在几天前，波兰议会通过了两项法案，旨在放宽这个天主教国家对堕胎的限制，但这些法案很可能会被波兰保守派总统卡罗尔·纳沃茨基否决。

华沙生殖权利活动组织“堕胎梦想团队”的佐菲亚·马尔齐内克表示，在下次议会选举前一年通过这些法律草案，与其说是真正努力改革堕胎法，不如说是“象征性的姿态”。

她说，自由党政府知道这些法律草案不可能经受住纳沃茨基的否决，只是试图给人一种采取行动的印象，因为它需要妇女的支持才能赢得明年的选举。