Termination of Pregnancy (Abortion) in the Light of the Jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Court

Abstract

The purpose of this study is primarily to analyse the jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal regarding the compliance with constitutional norms of the conditions for the admissibility of termination of pregnancy (abortion). The Constitution of the Republic of Poland provides every person with legal protection of life. Although its provisions do not explicitly specify that it is about the legal protection of life from conception to natural death, this type of interpretation seems to be adopted by the Constitutional Tribunal, which results in subsequent judgments on the assessment of compliance with this constitutional model of the conditions for the admissibility of abortion in Poland. In its jurisprudence, the Constitutional Tribunal first drew attention to the constitutional guarantees for the protection of human life at every stage of its development, and thus questioned the admissibility of termination of pregnancy due to difficult living conditions or the difficult personal situation of a pregnant woman, as well as in the case when prenatal examinations or other medical conditions indicate a high probability of severe and irreversible impairment of the fetus or an incurable disease threatening its life. In this context, however, it is worth noting that abortion is permissible when a high probability of severe and irreversible impairment of the fetus or an incurable disease threatening its life simultaneously poses a substantial risk to the life and health of the mother. The analysis of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal therefore allows to formulate a conclusion on the conservative and restrictive approach of this body regarding the conditions for the admissibility of abortion in Poland and the recognition of the legal protection of life as a cardinal constitutional value of the Polish legal system.