Protesters return to Poland’s streets demanding liberalisation of abortion law

The protests focused on Poland’s strict abortion rules and the government’s promise to change them. Protesters wanted the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling reversed. Many also demanded abortion on request up to the 12th week of pregnancy. The issue matters because the ruling removed one of the few legal grounds for abortion and became a major political symbol.

The demonstrations took place on the ruling’s sixth anniversary. Tusk’s coalition had promised reform after taking power in December 2023. Yet almost three years passed without new legislation. Protesters carried red cards, warning that voters could remove the coalition at next year’s parliamentary elections. In Poznań, demonstrators placed one outside the ruling Civic Coalition’s headquarters.

The protests were smaller than those in 2020, but they showed continuing anger. Parliament had just approved two bills, although protesters said they did not go far enough. President Karol Nawrocki is likely to block both, leaving reform uncertain before the 2027 election.

The Constitutional Tribunal, known in the article as the TK, is Poland’s constitutional court. In general, such a court checks whether laws and legal rules comply with the constitution. Its decisions can reshape what parliament is allowed to legislate. That makes the TK central to Poland’s abortion dispute, even though the court itself is not parliament.

In 2020, the TK ruled against allowing abortion when a severe defect was diagnosed in the foetus. The decision introduced a near-total abortion ban, according to the article. Afterward, abortion could legally take place only when pregnancy resulted from a crime, such as rape or incest, or when it threatened the mother’s life or health.

The ruling triggered Poland’s largest protests since the communist era. Tusk’s coalition later promised to reverse it, but reform stalled. Parliament has now approved a bill that would undo the 2020 change. President Nawrocki, who opposes abortion liberalisation, is expected to veto it.

The latest demonstrations were nationwide but modest compared with the upheaval after the 2020 ruling. In Warsaw, a few hundred people gathered outside parliament in the rain. Wrocław saw around 1,000 participants, while Katowice had about 300 and Poznań about 400. Other cities, including Rzeszów and Łódź, also held protests.

The 2020 ruling produced hundreds of thousands of protesters. The article describes those demonstrations as the largest seen in Poland since the communist era. They spread across the country and created intense political pressure. The newer protests used red cards to express disappointment with Tusk’s coalition, rather than matching the earlier movement’s scale.

The smaller crowds do not mean the issue has disappeared. Most Poles consistently support liberalising abortion law, although they disagree about how far reform should go. The latest mobilisation shows frustration with delay, while the approaching 2027 parliamentary election gives protesters a potential electoral lever.

Poland’s parliament recently approved two measures intended to liberalise abortion law. The first would reverse the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling. That would restore the possibility of abortion when a severe foetal defect is diagnosed. The second would decriminalise providing help to women obtaining abortions that remain unlawful under current rules.

These proposals address two parts of the existing system. One changes the legal grounds for abortion. The other reduces the legal risk for people who assist women seeking abortions outside those grounds. The Sejm, parliament’s more powerful lower house, approved both bills earlier in the week. They represent the clearest legislative progress since Tusk’s coalition took office.

However, many protesters say the measures are insufficient. They want abortion on demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy, which goes beyond simply reversing the 2020 ruling. The bills also face a major obstacle: President Karol Nawrocki has made his opposition clear and is likely to block them.

Liberalisation stalled mainly because Tusk’s coalition contains parties ranging from the left to the centre right. Its members have not agreed on how far abortion reform should go. One legislative effort collapsed in 2024 amid those disagreements. The government then failed to introduce new abortion legislation for almost three years after taking power.

Parliament has now approved two bills. One would reverse the 2020 ruling, while the other would decriminalise helping women obtain unlawful abortions. But passing bills through the Sejm does not guarantee that they become law. Poland’s president is also part of the lawmaking process and can veto legislation. The article describes the Sejm as parliament’s more powerful lower house.

President Karol Nawrocki is aligned with the right-wing opposition and has made his opposition to abortion clear. He has also vetoed a record number of government bills. The article therefore says both measures are likely to be blocked. Without presidential approval or another constitutional route, the reform effort may remain stalled.

The 2020 ruling changed Poland’s political climate as well as its abortion law. It removed the ground involving severe foetal defects and introduced a near-total ban. The decision provoked hundreds of thousands of people to protest across the country. The demonstrations were the largest Poland had seen since the communist era.

Those protests created sustained public anger toward the national-conservative Law and Justice party, or PiS, which had governed for eight years before Tusk’s coalition took power. The article says that anger is seen as having played a major role in PiS losing power in the 2023 parliamentary election. The protests therefore connected abortion policy with a broader change of government.

The issue remains politically important. Opinion polls consistently show that most Poles want liberalisation, although voters disagree about the preferred model. Tusk’s coalition promised reform after the election but has struggled to deliver it. With another parliamentary election due in autumn 2027, abortion policy may again influence voter choices.

A constitutional court generally decides whether laws comply with the constitution. Parliament makes laws, but it cannot validly enact rules that conflict with higher constitutional requirements. A president may also have authority to sign or veto legislation. These institutions therefore provide separate checks on one another, rather than allowing one body to settle every dispute.

In a typical process, parliament passes a bill and sends it to the president. The president may sign it, return it, or veto it, depending on constitutional rules. Parliament may sometimes override a veto with a special majority. A constitutional court can later review the law and strike down provisions that violate the constitution. These mechanisms can delay or prevent implementation.

The article illustrates this conflict through abortion reform. The TK’s 2020 ruling restricted the legal grounds. The Sejm has approved bills reversing that position, but President Nawrocki is likely to veto them. The article does not detail Poland’s full override procedure, so the precise outcome depends on constitutional rules not provided here.

The renewed protests show that abortion reform remains an electoral issue. Tusk’s coalition promised liberalisation after taking office in December 2023, but almost three years passed without new legislation. Protesters now accuse the government of ignoring them and have warned that voters could remove it from power. That threatens the coalition’s credibility among supporters who expected quick change.

The red card is the protesters’ key political message. It symbolises a warning before a team is sent off, and demonstrators used it against the ruling coalition. In Poznań, protesters placed one at the local Civic Coalition headquarters. Organisers said politicians had appeared when they needed votes but then ignored the issue. Continued delay could deepen that sense of betrayal.

The next parliamentary election is scheduled for autumn 2027. Current polls show fairly even support between Tusk’s coalition and the right-wing opposition. If reform remains blocked, the opposition could gain from the coalition’s frustration, although the article does not predict a definite election result.