Following the tightening of abortion laws under the socially-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government in 2020, abortion in Poland is now permitted only in cases of rape, incest, or when the pregnancy poses a threat to the health or life of the mother.
At a Friday press conference, held alongside Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, Tusk stated that while there is currently no possibility of changing the existing abortion law, the government “wants to change the realities of its application.”
Recent attempts in the Sejm, the lower house, have demonstrated the difficulty of securing a majority for bills that would legalize abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
“This does not mean that we remain idle when it comes to providing such opportunities for women in early pregnancy who, for various reasons ... decide that they should have the opportunity to have a legal abortion,” Tusk said.
He added that the government is exploring ways to facilitate practical access to legal abortion, which will be achieved through an interpretation of the current law on termination of pregnancy in the form of guidelines for hospitals and doctors, developed jointly by the ministries of justice and health.
Commenting on the guidelines, Leszczyna noted that a single medical opinion confirming a risk to the woman’s health, such as a certificate from a psychiatrist, is sufficient to proceed with terminating the pregnancy. She said that this principle is not currently being followed.
“If a healthcare facility requests a second medical opinion or convenes a medical concilium, this should be considered as hindering access to a medical procedure included in the basket of guaranteed benefits,” she added.
Bodnar highlighted the guidelines issued to prosecutors in early August on handling cases involving the refusal to terminate pregnancy and medical abortion.
“These include the Patient Rights Ombudsman’s interpretation of the 1993 abortion laws, which states that the concept of health [of a woman] should be interpreted not only in terms of physical health but also mental health,” Bodnar said.
Therefore, Bodnar added, a decision to perform an abortion for reasons of mental health protection “is absolutely permissible under the law.”
The guidelines on the applicable legal regulations concerning access to the procedure for terminating pregnancy are directed at hospital directors, heads of hospital departments, and wards.
They clarify that a threat to a woman’s life or health constitutes two independent grounds, and the presence of either is sufficient to terminate the pregnancy.
Additionally, the list of indications for abortion under this premise is not exhaustive. Moreover, the regulations refer to the general category of health and do not specify which area the health threat should pertain to; it can be physical or mental.
