Abortion Laws in Poland

POLAND.
Law of 7 January 1993 on family planning, protection of human fetuses, and the conditions under which pregnancy termination is permissible. (Translated in International Digest of Health Legislation, Vol. 44, No. 2, 1993, pp. 253-255.)

This Law repeals the Law of 27 April 1956 on the conditions under which pregnancy termination is permissible as amended, and amends certain other items of legislation. Secs. 1-4 read as follows:

1. (1) Every human being shall have a natural right to life as from the time of his conception.

(2) The life and health of the child shall be placed under the protection of the law, as from the time of its conception.

2. (1) The agencies of State administration and territorial administration, within their respective spheres of jurisdiction, as defined by specific provisions, shall be required to assure pregnant women social, medical, and legal assistance, in particular through:

1. medical care dispensed to the unborn child and its mother;

2. material aid and assistance for pregnant women who are affected by difficult material conditions during pregnancy, during childbirth, and after delivery; and

3. information services providing specific information on the rights, benefits, and services to which families, married or unmarried mothers, and their children, are eligible, as well as the possibilities of adoption; these information services shall also contribute to resolving psychological and social problems.

(2) The agencies of the State administration and of the territorial administration, within their respective spheres of jurisdiction as defined by specific provisions, shall be required to guarantee citizens free access to means and methods for birth control.

(3) Schools shall have the duty to grant leave to pregnant pupils, and any other essential assistance up to the end of compulsory schooling, in such a way that this does not entail, as far as possible, any delay in regard to the subjects of the curriculum. If pregnancy or childbirth make it impossible to undergo, within the prescribed time limits, important examinations for the continuation of studies, the school shall be required to grant a supplementary period, not exceeding six months, for the examinations to be taken by the person concerned.

(4) The scope and form of the assistance referred to in subsections 1 and 2, and the procedures under which it is granted, shall be laid down by way of an ordinance adopted by the Council of Ministers.

3. (1) The agencies of the State administration and the territorial administration shall maintain relationships of cooperation and assistance with the Catholic Church, and other churches, religious associations, and civic organizations that ensure the protection of pregnant women, organize placement in “surrogate families”, or contribute to the adoption of children.

(2) The scope and form of the assistance referred to in subsection 1, and the procedures under which it is granted, shall be laid down by way of an ordinance adopted by the Council of Ministers.

4. (1) Teaching programmes must include information on human sexuality, the principles of controlled and responsible procreation, the value of the family and the life of the unborn child, as well as means and methods for birth control.

(2) The Minister of National Education shall establish the detailed school curricula referred to in subsection 1.”Sec. 6 amends the Civil Code, Sec. 8 of which is amended by the insertion of a new subsection 2, reading as follows:

“(2) A conceived child shall likewise enjoy legal capacity; it shall acquire the same rights and duties as regards succession insofar as it is born alive.”

A new Sec. 446-1, reading as follows, is introduced after Sec. 446 of the
Code:

“446-1. After the time of birth, a child may seek compensation for damage which he underwent prior to his birth.”

[Further provisions of the Law, which have been subsequently modified, amend the Penal Code]

Penal Code, 6 June 1997, as amended through 2005.

Art. 152.

§ 1. Kto za zgoda kobiety przerywa jej ciaze z naruszeniem przepisow ustawy, podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci do lat 3.

§ 2. Tej samej karze podlega, kto udziela kobiecie ciezarnej pomocy w przerwaniu ciazy z naruszeniem przepisow ustawy lub ja do tego naklania.

§ 3. Kto dopuszcza sie czynu okreslonego w § 1 lub 2, gdy dziecko poczete osiagnelo zdolnosc do samodzielnego zycia poza organizmem kobiety ciezarnej, podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci od 6 miesiecy do lat 8.

Art. 153.

§ 1. Kto stosujac przemoc wobec kobiety ciezarnej lub w inny sposob bez jej zgody przerywa ciaze albo przemoca, grozba bezprawna lub podstepem doprowadza kobiete ciezarna do przerwania ciazy, podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci od 6 miesiecy do lat 8.

§ 2. Kto dopuszcza sie czynu okreslonego w § 1, gdy dziecko poczete osiagnelo zdolnosc do samodzielnego zycia poza organizmem kobiety ciezarnej, podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci od roku do lat 10.

Art. 154.

§ 1. Jezeli nastepstwem czynu okreslonego w art. 152 § 1 lub 2 jest smierc kobiety ciezarnej, sprawca podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci od roku do lat 10.

§ 2. Jezeli nastepstwem czynu okreslonego w art. 152

§ 3 lub w art. 153 jest smierc kobiety ciezarnej, sprawca podlega karze pozbawienia wolnosci od lat 2 do 12.

Art. 157a.

§ 1. Kto powoduje uszkodzenie ciala dziecka poczetego lub rozstroj zdrowia zagrazajacy jego zyciu, podlega grzywnie, karze ograniczenia wolnosci albo pozbawienia wolnosci do lat 2.

§ 2. Nie popelnia przestepstwa lekarz, jezeli uszkodzenie ciala lub rozstroj zdrowia dziecka poczetego sa nastepstwem dzialan leczniczych, koniecznych dla uchylenia niebezpieczenstwa grozacego zdrowiu lub zyciu kobiety ciezarnej albo dziecka poczetego.

§ 3. Nie podlega karze matka dziecka poczetego, ktora dopuszcza sie czynu okreslonego w § 1.

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[The above provisions prohibit abortion unless performed by a physician when medically necessary to avert a danger to the health or life of the pregnant woman or fetus.]