On Friday, 6 November, the Senate backed two bills easing abortion rules: one restoring the possibility of terminating a pregnancy in cases of severe fetal defects, and one decriminalising assistance with abortion. They now go to President Karol Nawrocki.
Voting results in the Senate
The amendment to the Act on Family Planning, Protection of the Human Fetus and Conditions for Permitting Termination of Pregnancy, and to the Act on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds, was supported by 58 senators. 33 were against, and 3 abstained, the Senate reported on X.
The amendment to the Criminal Code was supported by 56 senators, 34 voted against, and no one abstained. Both bills were adopted without amendments, so they do not return to the Sejm.
What the Act on Family Planning changes
The amendment reverses the effects of a 2020 ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal. It restores the so-called embryopathological ground, that is, the possibility of legally terminating a pregnancy in case of a severe and irreversible fetal defect or an incurable disease threatening the fetus’s life. It also clarifies how legal termination of pregnancy is carried out.
After the procedure, a woman has the right to psychological support outside the queue for six months. The bill was submitted to the Sejm by the Third Way in February 2024.
What the Criminal Code changes
The act repeals Article 152 § 2 of the Criminal Code, which provided for liability for assisting in terminating a pregnancy in violation of the act’s provisions or for inciting it. This concerns people who help a woman, e.g. relatives or social organisations. Liability under § 1, concerning the person performing the procedure, remains.
The act retains a provision added in the Sejm. It excludes criminal liability of a doctor, nurse or midwife in specified situations related to protecting the life or health of the pregnant woman, including where there is a high probability of a severe and irreversible fetal defect.
The legislative path
The Sejm passed both bills on 20 October; we wrote about the vote in the Sejm and its narrow majority in our article on the partial decriminalisation of abortion. In the Senate, committees dealt with the matter, and the plenary debate took place on 4 November.
The president has 21 days to sign the bills, refer them to the Constitutional Tribunal, or veto them. As of publication, the Chancellery of the President had not announced a decision on the matter.
