Polish lawmakers vote to ease abortion law as presidential veto looms

Polandʼs Parliament passed two bills on Oct. 20 to ease the countryʼs abortion law, though both are likely to face a veto from President Karol Nawrocki.

The bills passed the lower house, Sejm, but still need Senate approval and the presidentʼs signature.

Reuters reported that Nawrocki has signaled he would block any liberalization and that the legislation is “almost certain to be vetoed.”

The first bill, an amendment to the penal code, passed 217-213 with three abstentions, according to the Polish news agency PAP. Opponents included the Law and Justice (PiS) party and 14 members of the Polish Peopleʼs Party (PSL), a partner in the governing coalition.

It would repeal the provision under which anyone who terminates a pregnancy with the womanʼs consent outside the law faces up to three years in prison. Helping or persuading a woman to have such an abortion would also no longer be a crime. Women themselves are not penalized under current law. A similar bill failed 218-215 in July 2024 .

The second bill passed 233-203 with one abstention. It seeks to reverse an Oct. 22, 2020, Constitutional Tribunal ruling that abortion for severe and irreversible fetal impairment is…