This post is by Katarzyna Wazynska-Finck is a PhD candidate in the Law Department, European University Institute.
The legal regulation of access to termination of pregnancy currently in force in Poland is one of the most repressive in Europe. Abortion care is legal only in three cases: when there is a threat to life or health of the pregnant woman, when the pregnancy results from criminal offence, and in case of serious and irreversible foetal abnormality or incurable illness (the last case is often referred to in Poland as ‘eugenic’ abortion). This legislation dates back to 1993 and is often referred to as ‘the Compromise’: a middle ground between a total ban (called for by some Catholic groups) and the availability on demand (which was the state of law under the communist regime).
