Abortion statistics of Poland

Abortion legislation

Legislation timeline

1953: abortion legalized under former communist Poland
1993: abortion is made illegal on the specific request of the Polish pope Johannes II (Wojtyla)
1997: the President of the Constitutional Court announces that the regulation of permissibility of abortion on the grounds of difficult living conditions or a challenging personal situation loses its legal force
2021: As of 27 January, abortion is legal only when the woman's life or health is endangered by the continuation of pregnancy or when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act..

Source: Chancellery of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Parliament) (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078), Federation for Women and Family Planning (http://en.federa.org.pl/), Act of 7th January, 1993 on Family-Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination. Art. 4a (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland

Abortion conditions

Ground	Gestational limit
To save a woman’s life	No limit
Because of foetal impairment	Until the fœtus becomes capable of living by itself outside the organism of the pregnant woman
To preserve a woman’s mental health	No limit
To preserve a woman’s physical health	No limit
For economic and social reasons
On request

Source: Act of 7th January, 1993 on Family-Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination. Art. 4a (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078)

Legal conditions

Written consent by the woman
Pre-abortion referral from a physician
Pregnant woman life/health: physician specialist relevant to the type of the disease
Fœtus impairment: physician specialist on the genetic defects who states the defect after the genetic testing

Specific conditions for minors

Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 13
Consent of the guardianship court required for minors under 13; the minor has the right to express her own opinion.

Source:

Act of 7th January, 1993 on Family-Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination. Art. 4a (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078)

Practical conditions

Medical abortion conditions

Place	Prescription	1^st drug taken	2^nd drug taken
OB/GYN department of a hospital/clinic	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Another physician office	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Midwife office	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Abortion centre/clinic	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
At home	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable

Source:

Mandatory pre-abortion examinations

None

Involved healthcare professionals

Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN)
Medical abortion: not applicable

Source:

Act of 7th January, 1993 on Family-Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination. Art. 4a (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078)

Abortion statistics

Abortion rates per 1,000 women aged 15-49

Source: https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do

Overall number of induced abortions

Source: https://en.federa.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2021-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf

Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 3 (2019)

Source: http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?wai=true&dataset=demo_fabort

Abortions performed “on request”: % ()

Source:

Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions

Source:

Induced abortions per gestational age ()

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Place of abortion (2021)

Source: https://en.federa.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2021-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf

Characteristics of women having induced abortion

Distribution of induced abortion according to women age (2020)

Source: https://en.federa.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2021-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf

Source:

Fertility and contraception

Fertility rates in women aged 15-49

Source: https://stat.gov.pl/en/topics/population/

Women age at first birth

28.7 years of age (2021)

Source:

https://stat.gov.pl/en/topics/population/

Country-specific characteristics

Pre-abortion referral from a physician is required.
Abortion is taught during health care professionals’ (HCPs’) medical studies.
Physicians have the right to conscientiously object. He/She has the right to use the conscience clause and refuse to terminate a pregnancy and refrain from providing medical services incompatible with his/her conscience. This, however, can only happen when the delay is sure not to endanger a life, or pose the treat of serious health damage or serious injury. This right is being abused by physicians and hospitals resulting in the whole medical centres refusing to perform abortions.
Surgical abortion is free of charge for resident women and for non-resident women who are employed, employee’s family members, refugees, registered job seekers or insured in the EU or the EFTA.

Source:

Act of 7th January, 1993 on Family-Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination. Art. 4a (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078)

IPPF European Network (http://www.ippfen.org/)

Doctor and Dentist Professions Act of 5 December 1996, PL (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU19930170078)

Download statistics of Poland

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Page last updated: 4 July 2023