We, the undersigned students, alumni and members of international educational institutions, want to express our disappointment and disbelief following the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal that abortion due to foetal defects is unconstitutional. We would like to raise a serious concern with regards to the state of human rights in Poland.

On Thursday 22nd October the Constitutional Tribunal decided that abortion motivated by foetal abnormalities goes against the Polish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life. Thus, an already prohibitive law was further restricted. It is important to note that as many as 1,074 out of 1,116 abortions performed legally last year were carried out on that basis. The introduced change critically undermines women’s autonomy and their rights to life, health, privacy and non-discrimination, and subjects them to both mental and physical pain.

In 2018 the UN Human Rights Committee asserted that access to abortion and prevention of maternal mortality are human rights. We believe that free and legal abortion should exist as an option for women who are not or do not deem themselves able to continue pregnancy. They should be able to access help in a safe environment of a hospital in their own country, rather than being forced to make use of illegal medical services, or to perform abortions abroad. Polish law requires critical reform.

We are calling on the Polish government to dedicate urgent attention to the current situation, and to take measures that will ensure that the essential rights and health of women are protected.