UN Committee Condemns Poland for Violating Women’s Rights with Restrictive Abortion Laws

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Women in Poland are facing severe human rights violations due to restrictive abortion laws, with many forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, seek unsafe underground procedures, or travel abroad for legal abortions. United Nations women’s rights experts stated today that these harsh restrictions have reportedly contributed to several preventable deaths.

In a report published today, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) concluded that the criminalization of aiding women in obtaining abortions, combined with very limited legal exceptions and the persistent inaccessibility of services, has deprived the majority of women in Poland seeking abortions of safe and legal procedures.

“Poland’s situation constitutes gender-based violence against women and could amount to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment,” said CEDAW Vice-Chair Genoveva Tisheva. Tisheva, along with former CEDAW member Lia Nadaria, visited Poland in 2022, conducting a confidential inquiry into allegations by civil society organizations that women in Poland faced severe and systematic violations of their rights. The committee received full cooperation from the Polish government throughout the proceedings.

The committee found that Poland’s already restrictive legal framework, which permits legal abortion only when a woman’s life or health is at risk or when the pregnancy is a result of a crime, has been further weakened by severe implementation failures. These include doctors often hesitating to perform abortions out of fear of criminal liability, frequently delaying procedures until a woman’s life is in immediate danger. Additionally, many doctors refuse to perform abortions on moral or religious grounds, making access to safe abortion services even more difficult.

The committee also emphasized that access to abortion in cases of pregnancies resulting from crimes is severely hindered by a complex and victim-unfriendly bureaucratic process, further exacerbated by powerful anti-abortion lobbying groups, threats, and public condemnation against those aiding women seeking abortions.

“Together, these factors create a complex, hostile, and intimidating environment where access to safe abortion is stigmatized and practically impossible,” Tisheva said.

The report concluded that the current laws, which prevent women from exercising their reproductive choices, force them to carry pregnancies to term, endanger their health and lives, or subject them to hostile and burdensome procedures, resulting in mental and physical suffering that constitutes gender-based violence against women. It also violates multiple articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, potentially amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

“Denial of abortion is a form of discrimination against women, as it blocks a service that only women need,” Tisheva said. She added, “Women’s mental anguish is further compounded when they are forced to carry non-viable fetuses, a situation worsened by the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that effectively banned abortions even in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities.”

CEDAW made 22 recommendations in its report, including adopting a human rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly through legal reforms towards the full decriminalization and legalization of abortion, as well as recognizing the right to abortion as a fundamental right. The full CEDAW inquiry report is available online, along with responses from the Polish government.