European Court Orders Poland to Compensate Woman Who Travelled Abroad for Abortion
Europe’s highest human rights court ruled on Thursday that Poland had infringed upon the private life of a woman who underwent an abortion abroad, due to uncertainty over its legality within the country.
In Poland, termination of pregnancy is permitted only in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk. The woman, born in 1981, lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights after she was compelled to travel to a private clinic in the Netherlands in November 2020 to abort a foetus diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome.
A 1993 Polish statute previously allowed abortion in cases where prenatal testing revealed foetal abnormalities. However, in October 2020, the Polish Constitutional Court declared that provision unconstitutional.
The ruling, which sparked widespread protests, was not published until late January 2021. The Strasbourg-based court determined that the “situation of prolonged uncertainty” resulting from the delay amounted to interference in the woman’s private and family life, as protected under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court ordered Poland to pay the woman 1,495 euros, equivalent to more than $1,700, for pecuniary damages, along with 15,000 euros, or over $17,400, in non-pecuniary damages.
Natalia Broniarczyk, of the non-governmental organisation “Aborcyjny Dream Team”, told AFP that it was a “fair decision”. “Every day, seven women travel abroad for an abortion,” she added.
Official figures indicate that fewer than 900 abortions were performed in Polish hospitals last year, in a country with a population of 38 million. Poland is one of 46 member states of the Council of Europe, headquartered in Strasbourg, which is not affiliated with the European Union.
Member states of the Council of Europe are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enforced by the European Court of Human Rights. In 2023, the ECHR issued a similar judgement in the case of a woman who had been scheduled to undergo an abortion in a Polish hospital on 28 January 2021, following a diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome in the foetus. After the legal amendment came into effect on 27 January, she too was forced to seek the procedure at a private clinic abroad.
Poland maintains some of the most stringent abortion laws in Europe, and “assisting abortion” is punishable by imprisonment. In 2023, four proposals to liberalise the law were introduced in parliament, following the rise to power of a pro-European coalition government. These proposals ranged from reversing the 2020 ruling and permitting abortion in cases of “severe foetal abnormalities”, to allowing abortion up to 12 weeks without justification, or up to 24 weeks in cases involving defects.
None of the proposals passed through parliament, and the conservative-nationalist President, Karol Nawrocki, stated he would veto any legislation aimed at liberalising abortion laws. The most progressive proposal was put forward by the Left party, a member of the ruling coalition, which also advocated for the decriminalisation of abortion.
Following the European court’s decision, Left spokesperson Lukasz Michnik expressed the party’s hope that “it will convince otherwise skeptical partners and factions to finally decriminalise” abortion. “It’s simply right, it’s in accordance with European law,” he told AFP
