Regulating Abortion: Poland between Constitutional Crisis and the Governance of Bodies

Abstract

Abstract: Regulating Abortion: Poland between Constitutional Crisis and the Governance of Bodies - This article examines the regulation of abortion in Poland as a paradigmatic case of the interaction between constitutional crisis, democratic backsliding, and the biopolitical governance of women’s bodies. It reconstructs the main normative and constitutional developments, with particular attention to the Constitutional Tribunal’s 1997 and 2020 judgments and the subsequent case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The analysis argues that reproductive rights in Poland must be understood through two complementary, intertwined but still different lenses: the procedural erosion of the rule of law and the substantive impact of abortion restrictions on women’s autonomy, dignity, health, and equality.

Keywords: Abortion; Biopolitics; Poland; Reproductive rights; Rule of law.