GENEVA, 13.11.2025—Today, the European Court of Human Rights issued yet another judgement finding Poland in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights as a result of the harmful ruling by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in 2020, which further restricted Poland’s already severely limited access to abortion care.

In A.R. v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights found that A.R.’s right to private and family life was violated as a result of legal uncertainty created in the aftermath of the delivery of the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, which left her unsure whether she could still access legal abortion in Poland and ultimately forced her to travel abroad for care, causing significant distress and harm. The Court observed that having to obtain an abortion abroad, away from her family’s support and the security of her home country, was a significant source of additional anxiety. The Court also noted its earlier finding in another judgement that the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling came from a body whose composition did not meet rule of law requirements.

Today’s judgement adds to a growing line of decisions by international human rights bodies against Poland for failing to guarantee access to abortion care. Since the 2020 ruling, women in Poland have faced multiple harms, including fear, confusion and denial of essential healthcare. At least seven pregnant women have died as a result of being denied life-saving care during obstetric emergencies. This new judgment reflects the continuing damage caused by the near-total ban on abortion.

Despite repeated findings by the European Court of Human Rights and recommendations issued in 2024 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urging Poland to legalise and decriminalise abortion, the government has yet to take meaningful action.

“For too long, women in Poland have endured the devastating consequences of a law that denies them essential health care,” said Adriana Lamačková, Associate Director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This judgment is yet another clear call for the government to take action to uphold human rights. The only way to protect women’s health, safety and dignity is to legalise and fully decriminalise abortion through comprehensive legal reform. Urgent action is needed so that no more women will have to seek justice and redress for violations of their reproductive rights.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights calls on the Polish government to urgently move forward with comprehensive legal reform and guarantee accessible abortion care for all women. Pending legal reform, it remains critical that Poland introduce a moratorium on the enforcement of criminal laws concerning abortion and cease all related arrests, investigations and criminal prosecutions.

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Notes to Editors:

Poland has one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws and is one of only two European Union Member States that has not legalised abortion on request. Abortion is permitted only when a woman’s life or health is at risk or when a pregnancy results from rape, yet even in these limited circumstances access is almost impossible in practice. Since the 2020 ruling by the discredited Constitutional Tribunal that removed a legal ground for abortion, Poland has been left with what is effectively a near-total ban, denying many women care and exposing them to grave harm and suffering.

Since the ruling took effect in January 2021, more than 1,000 women have filed applications before the European Court of Human Rights challenging Poland’s abortion law. A.R. was one of them. She was represented by lawyers associated with the Foundation for Women and Family Planning in Poland (FEDERA). The Center for Reproductive Rights, together with eight international human rights organizations, intervened in this case and others with evidence and analysis grounded in international human rights law, comparative European law and World Health Organization guidelines, highlighting the severe impact of highly restrictive abortion laws on women and girls.

The European Court of Human Rights has already issued several judgements against Poland for failing to guarantee access to abortion care in practice. In 2024, following a three-year inquiry, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued landmark findings that Poland’s restrictive abortion law causes grave and systematic human rights violations. Poland has yet to take meaningful action to comply with any of these rulings or recommendations.

Since late 2023, several legislative proposals seeking to legalise and decriminalise abortion have been pending in the Polish Sejm. It remains unclear when these proposals will be moved forward.