# Poland's parliament votes to ease abortion laws

> Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition passes two bills loosening strict abortion restrictions, but faces a likely presidential veto.
- Title: Poland's parliament votes to ease abortion laws · POLITICO
- Summary: Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition passes two bills loosening strict abortion restrictions, but faces a likely presidential veto. Poland's lower chamber…
- Keywords: poland, donald tusk, karol nawrocki, abortion, parliament, reproductive rights, law and justice party, politics, world, Poland's, votes, ease
- Source: POLITICO — https://politico.eu/article/poland-parliament-eases-abortion-laws-ichallenge-conservative-president
- Published: 2026-10-20T20:25:31+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: poland, donald tusk, karol nawrocki, abortion, parliament, reproductive rights, law and justice party, politics, world
## Poland's parliament approves abortion reform
Poland's lower chamber passed two bills Tuesday evening loosening the country's strict abortion restrictions, marking a breakthrough for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition nearly three years after taking power.
## What the bills would do
The first bill ends criminal penalties for helping a woman obtain an abortion. The second re-legalizes terminations involving severe fetal abnormalities, undoing a crucial element of Poland's near-total abortion ban.
## Falls short of campaign promise
Neither bill allows abortion on request up to twelve weeks of pregnancy, as Tusk's Civic Coalition promised during the two thousand twenty-three election campaign.
## Government equality commissioner speaks out
Katarzyna Kotula, Poland's government equality commissioner and a lawmaker from the Left, said on X: "The state trusts women. A woman who terminates her own pregnancy is already exempt from criminal punishment."

> The state trusts women. A woman who terminates her own pregnancy is already exempt from criminal punishment.
## President expected to veto bills
Both bills move to the Senate, where they seem poised to pass. But President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the nationalist Law and Justice party, said before his two thousand twenty-five election that he would…
## Coalition lacks veto override power
Overriding a presidential veto requires a three-fifths majority in the Sejm that the Tusk-led coalition does not have.
## Women's groups say reforms insufficient
Women's rights organizations were skeptical about the bills being a breakthrough, saying the reforms fall far short of granting Polish women the access to abortion available in most of the EU, where pregnancies can generally…

> What does this mean for women who need abortions now? Nothing, because none of these projects would help them.
## Key takeaway

Poland's lower chamber approved bills decriminalizing abortion assistance and restoring access for severe fetal abnormalities, but President Karol Nawrocki is expected to veto them.