Thousands protest across Poland on 22 October for free, legal abortion access

Protests in more than 20 cities

On Thursday, 22 October 2026, demonstrators gathered in Warsaw and other Polish cities to call for abortion to be made free, safe and legal. Sources differ on the number of places: tagesschau counted 28 cities, OKO.press reported 27, Polityka said more than 30, and Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera wrote of more than 20. Al Jazeera and RP Online put the crowd in Warsaw at about 1,000 people, who stood in front of parliament in the rain. In Gdansk, OKO.press counted several hundred protesters at a rally organised by Fundacja Widzialne.

The law behind the protests

Abortion in Poland is currently lawful only after rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the mother. The restrictions were tightened in 2020, when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled on 22 October 2020 that abortion was not permitted in cases of severe, irreversible fetal defects. Women who end their own pregnancy, including with pills, do not face criminal liability, according to Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle. Doctors, family members and others who help them can face up to three years in prison, and tagesschau reports that abortion pills are barely accessible legally. Activists say tens of thousands of abortions take place outside hospitals each year. NFZ figures cited by SRF show 452 abortions in Poland in 2022 and 851 in 2025.

Parliament bills and the expected veto

On 20 October 2026 parliament passed two bills. One would partly decriminalise abortion and assistance with it, while the other would allow abortion where the fetus has severe defects, reversing the 2020 ruling. Both are expected to be vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki, a conservative backed by the PiS opposition. Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised ahead of the 2023 election to loosen the rules, but divisions within his coalition have slowed progress. Protesters argue that the government has only started the reform a year before the next parliamentary election.

What protesters want

The organisers, including Fundacja Widzialne, the Abortion Dream Team and Ogolnopolski Strajk Kobiet, set out five demands, among them abortion that is safe, free and accessible without half-measures or bans with three exceptions. Placards in Warsaw read Women's hell continues and Men of quality don't fear equality, according to Deutsche Welle. Emilia Niemiec, 36, who manages the AboTak abortion centre, described the situation to Al Jazeera:

Over the last six years, nothing has really changed.

Kinga Jelinska, director of the Women Help Women Foundation, told AFP that the government's bills were too limited:

Activists also accused the government of acting only to win women's votes in the election due next year, and a protest was held in London by women opposing Polish abortion rules.