Warsaw, October 22, 2026
On October 22, 2020, Poland’s Constitutional Court ruled in Warsaw that women could not terminate a pregnancy even when the fetus had severe malformations.
The court thus granted an application by the then-conservative PiS government. According to the documented decision, termination was no longer permitted in such cases. The ruling concerned the limits of the law then governing the termination of pregnancy.
At the center of the case was the question of whether the existing ban should also apply when a fetal malformation was severe. The court ruled that this protection also applied in the circumstances described.
The court ruling
The decision triggered widespread criticism and protests throughout Polish society. In several cities, people took to the streets to demonstrate in support of liberal abortion rights. The reaction showed that the ruling had an impact far beyond the judicial sphere.