Fact Sheet: CEDAW Inquiry into Poland’s Abortion Law (English and Polish)
Available in English and Polish, this fact sheet assesses human rights violations caused by Poland’s abortion law.
In August 2024, after a three-year inquiry initiated by submissions from the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partner in Poland, the Foundation for Women and Family Planning (FEDERA), the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women released groundbreaking findings on Poland’s highly restrictive abortion law. The Committee’s report provides landmark recognition of the extensive harm caused by Poland’s criminalization and legal restrictions on abortion. It is the first comprehensive and authoritative assessment by a UN or regional human rights body of the serious human rights violations caused by Poland’s abortion law.
This fact sheet, prepared by the Center for Reproductive Rights and FEDERA and available in both English and Polish, provides a comprehensive overview of the inquiry’s background, Poland’s legal context, key findings, and the Committee’s recommendations. It outlines the Committee’s conclusion that Poland’s law causes grave and systematic human rights violations, inflicting severe physical and mental suffering on women, which can amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
The fact sheet also summarises the report’s recommendations, which include a call for Poland to legalise and fully decriminalise abortion, recognizing it as a fundamental right and placing women’s autonomy at the centre of its policy, and the enactment of an immediate moratorium on criminal investigations and prosecutions related to abortion.
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