Thousands protest across Poland for access to free and legal abortions

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

Key points

• Prime Minister Donald Tusk's administration promised to liberalise abortion laws ahead of its 2023 election victory, but divisions within the coalition have slowed progress.
• Restrictive abortion laws have been in place in Poland since 1993, with Polish women leading calls for the legalisation of abortion ever since.
• 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) administration.
• In the capital, Warsaw, regarding 1, 000 protesters demonstrated in front of parliament despite rain.
• "Over the last six years, nothing has really changed, " remarked 36-year-old Emilia Niemiec.

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

At present, 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.

In practice, the demonstrations come days after parliament passed two bills that would ease abortion restrictions in the mostly Catholic country, but are probable 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, remarked Zofia Marcinek of the Abortion Dream Team, a reproductive rights activist group in Warsaw.

She remarked the liberal administration knew the draft laws stand no chance of withstanding Nawrocki's veto, and has merely tried to create the impression of taking action since it needs women's backing to win elections next year.

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

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.

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 individuals 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 administration 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 remarked. "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 particularly late and highly complicated and expensive to support them."

Taken together, the developments around thousands protest across Poland for access to free and legal abortions point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.