Thousands March in Poland for Legal Abortion Rights Ahead of Expected Veto

Thousands of people took to the streets across Poland on Saturday to demand free and legal abortions. The marches marked the sixth anniversary of a near-total ban handed down by the country's highest court. Demonstrators showed up in more than 20 towns and cities.

Currently, the law only permits abortion if pregnancy stems from rape or incest, or if it endangers the mother's life or health. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government had pledged to relax these rules after winning the 2023 election, yet internal coalition fights have stalled any real progress. This week, parliament did pass two bills meant to ease restrictions in this mostly Catholic nation. However, conservative President Karol Nawrocki is expected to veto them.

Zofia Marcinek from the Abortion Dream Team called this move a token gesture rather than genuine reform. She argued that officials knew President Nawrocki would block the laws anyway. The administration likely tried to paint an image of taking action just to secure women's votes for next year's election.

About 1,000 protesters gathered in Warsaw despite the rain. They stood before parliament while Emilia Niemiec, 36, spoke out. She runs AboTak, a center that supplies pills and safe space for pharmacological abortions. "Over the last six years, nothing has really changed," she said.

Restrictive laws have governed Poland since 1993. Women pushed hard to legalize abortion ever since. Nationwide protests erupted in 2016 when demonstrators wore black. Instead of loosening up, the government tightened rules further under the national-conservative Law and Justice party in 2020. This move banned abortions for fetuses with congenital defects.

Abortions still happen often in Poland. Most occur at home using pills women buy from abroad. Under current law, a woman taking these pills does not face criminal charges. Doctors or family members helping her could be prosecuted though. Data from the National Health Fund shows Polish hospitals performed 573 abortions in the first half of 2026. That number beats the 452 recorded for all of 2022 before Tusk took power. Activists say tens of thousands happen yearly outside hospital walls.

Campaigners organizing Thursday's events claim the Tusk government betrayed Polish women. They argue that his claims of improved access actually make care harder to find. "The government's promises act as a type of disinformation," Marcinek said. Women who get pregnant hear the prime minister say everything is fine and that help exists. Then they walk into hospitals only to see that it isn't true. By the time they reach out for aid, it is often very late, complicated, and expensive.