Polish Demonstrators Demand Abortion Rights Six Years After Landmark Ban
Polish women's rights groups rallied against government inaction despite lawmakers passing two reform bills that face an expected presidential veto.
Thousands of demonstrators marched across more than 20 Polish cities on Thursday, October 22, 2026. They protested government inaction on abortion rights six years after a court ruling imposed a near-total ban.
The demonstrations were organized under the slogan Red Card for Abortion. Protests occurred in cities including Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Katowice, Kraków, Łódź, and Wrocław, as well as in London. In Warsaw, hundreds of people held up red cards outside the parliament building during heavy rain.
The rallies came two days after the Sejm voted on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, to approve two bills easing abortion restrictions.
The first bill partially decriminalizes abortion and lifts penalties for assisting a woman in terminating a pregnancy. Lawmakers from the Civic Coalition and The Left sponsored the measure, which passed 217 to 213, with three abstentions.
A second bill, backed by Poland 2050 and the Polish People’s Party, passed 233 to 203, with one abstention. It would reinstate legal exceptions for severe fetal defects that existed before 2020.
Activists dismissed the legislative action. Zofia Marcinek of the reproductive rights group Abortion Dream Team called the bills token gestures. She said the government knew the bills could not survive a presidential veto and acted to secure votes before the 2027 elections.
Marcinek also said official claims of improved abortion access served as disinformation. Protesting groups accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk of breaking campaign promises on abortion after relying on female voters to win power in 2023.
Tusk previously defended his administration by noting that ministries issued administrative directives. Those rules bar hospitals from using religious conscience clauses to deny legal procedures.
Protesters demanded abortion on request up to the 12th week of pregnancy and unrestricted access to emergency contraception. They also sought full decriminalization and city intervention against anti-abortion pickets outside hospitals in Warsaw and Gdańsk.
On October 22, 2020, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ended exceptions for fetal abnormalities. That ruling eliminated the grounds for more than 90% of legal abortions performed under a 1993 law. While pregnant women face no penalties for ending their pregnancies, those who assist them face up to three years in prison.
National Health Fund figures show Polish hospitals performed 573 abortions in the first half of 2026, compared with 452 in all of 2022. Activist groups estimate tens of thousands more women obtain abortions outside the medical system each year using pills sent from abroad.
Both approved bills now move to the Polish Senate for review before going to President Karol Nawrocki. Nawrocki is expected to veto both measures.
