On November 13, the European Court of Human Rights found that Poland’s tightened abortion regulations breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
ECtHR Decision
The Court declared that the new restrictions on the admissibility of pregnancy termination contravene Article 8. The ruling was issued on Thursday, 13 November.
Complaint Filed by Kraków Resident
A woman from Kraków, then 15 weeks pregnant, was diagnosed with a fatal fetal genetic disorder on 5 November 2020. With the Constitutional Tribunal’s abortion ruling pending and unpublished, she chose to travel to the Netherlands to terminate the pregnancy and filed a complaint with the Court in 2021.
Background: Constitutional Tribunal Ruling
In October 2020, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that abortion on the grounds of severe, irreversible fetal defect or an untreatable disease threatening the fetus’s life is unconstitutional. The decision followed a petition by 119 MPs from PiS, Confederation and PSL‑Kukiz’15.
