Since abortion law was restricted in 1993, the rate of legal abortions in Poland has been miniscule compared to other European Countries. The number of legal abortions performed per year stayed below the maximum of 1,110 in 2019 [1]. The rate of legally conducted abortions is 30-100 times lower then in other European countries [2]. Pro-choice organizations argue that there is a much greater number of abortions that are performed illegally or by travel to more liberal jurisdictions.

The legal status of abortion, often referred to informally as "abortion compromise", was stable since 1997 when Constitutional Tribunal struck down a recently introduced provision that allowed for abortion due to "hard living conditions or difficult personal situations".

Since then, abortion has been legal under three conditions:

• danger to the life or health of the mother
• high probability of permanent an irreversible impairment of the fetus
• suspicion that pregnancy was caused by rape or incest

In November 2020, Constitutional Tribunal declared that it will strike down the provision that allowed for abortion in case of fetal impairment. The judgment went into effect on January 27. The decision caused waves of protest in Poland.

Selection of judges to the tribunal was considered illegal by opposition parties, due to earlier controversies. After the ruling, the tribunal was called "pseudotribunal" and "an addition to the Kaczyński's party" by opposition leaders (Rafał Trzaskowski and Szymon Hołownia respectively).

Opposition criticized the decision, including claims that the judgment is invalid and that it killed the "abortion compromise". They believe that the situation will allow for reevaluation of abortion law once PiS is out of power. This could bringing it closer to what is present in other nations of Europe.

In February 2021, leading opposition party - Civic Platform (PO) proposed a plan that would legalize termination of pregnancy up to 12 weeks with condition of a consultation with a physician and a psychologist.