Overview
- Poland's lower house approved two bills when it voted on Tuesday to restore legal abortion for severe fetal defects and to partially remove criminal penalties for people who help women obtain abortions.
- One bill would reinstate an exception for a high probability of a severe and irreparable fetal defect or a life‑threatening fetal disease, reversing the 2020 court ruling that removed that ground.
- The second bill would limit criminal liability for medical staff, family members and friends who assist with abortions, reducing the threat of up to three years in prison that currently affects helpers and some clinicians.
- President Karol Nawrocki has said he will review the laws and is widely expected to veto them, and the governing centre‑left coalition lacks the three‑fifths Sejm majority needed to override his veto.
- If the measures fail to become law, experts and rights groups say many women would still need to travel abroad for care, the legal fear among doctors would remain, and the debate is likely to shape the run‑up to Poland's 2027 elections as the bills move to the Senate.