The measure was approved by 217 lawmakers, with 213 voting against and three abstaining. It will now go to the Senate, the upper house.
The proposal, submitted by lawmakers from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's governing coalition in July 2024, would amend the criminal code by repealing provisions under which terminating a pregnancy with a woman’s consent is punishable by up to three years in prison.
It would also remove criminal penalties of up to three years for anyone who assists a pregnant woman in obtaining an abortion in violation of the law or persuades her to undergo one.
The bill further provides that doctors, nurses and midwives would not commit a crime if a pregnancy termination results from a medical procedure necessary to "avert a threat to a woman's life or health."
The provision would also cover cases in which prenatal tests or other medical indications show a high probability of severe and irreversible fetal abnormalities or an incurable disease threatening the foetus’ life.
The vote was the latest attempt by Polish lawmakers to partially decriminalise abortion. A similar measure failed to win a majority in July 2024.
At the moment, abortion is permitted "when the pregnancy poses a threat to the woman’s life or health," without a gestational-age limit, or when it results from a criminal act, such as rape or incest, up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
Separately, Polish MPs on Tuesday passed a bill that would restore the fetal-abnormality ground for abortion. That measure was approved by 233 lawmakers, with 203 voting against and one abstaining.
Abortion on the grounds of severe and irreversible fetal abnormalities or an incurable disease threatening the foetus’ life has not been permitted since January 2021, following the publication of a Constitutional Tribunal ruling that found that ground unconstitutional. The ruling prompted nationwide protests.
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Source: IAR/PAP