Women across Europe are still fighting for their reproductive rights and access to legal abortions. The absence of access to safe abortions services contributes to women being forced into motherhood or losing their lives due to being denied the procedure. However, European countries have adopted different approaches in this regard.
Victory for Danish women
A historic day for Danish women is marked by the first of June 2025. The new abortion law came into force, making it possible for women to get an abortion up until the 18th week of pregnancy. Abortion has been fully legal in Denmark since October 1973 (back then, up to week 12) for people over the age of 18.
Previously, minors had to get the consent of their parents or caretakers in order to undergo the procedure. With the new law, young women aged 15 to 17 now have the right to an abortion without the consent of an adult. Such change ensures them more bodily autonomy and self integrity and placed Denmark at the forefront of the enforcement of reproductive rights and gender equality. It is a historic win for Danish women, as the new law strengthens their self-determination and the power over their own bodies.
In Denmark, abortion is a human right - a medical procedure that should be accessible to all those who are able to become pregnant, free of charge. However, this is not a given in every European country.
Is the polish pro-life killing women?
Nevertheless, not every country is as progressive as Denmark when it comes to abortion. In a report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of the United Nations has called out Poland’s abortion law as “a violation of women’s rights”. Since the country is one of the few countries in the world to have rolled back its abortion laws, Polish women suffer both mentally and physically from the lack of access to safe abortions. As the Polish law is highly restrictive, it makes it almost impossible to obtain an abortion.
However, the law makes a few instances where women, can receive an abortion, like in case of rape or incest, or when the woman’s life or health is at risk. Previously, an abortion was possible if the foetus had fetal impairments, but this law was rolled back in 2020. But even in these three cases, legal abortions are limited. Getting an abortion itself is not illegal, but medical professionals who carry them out risk imprisonment or losing their medical licence. Out of fear, many doctors and gynaecologists refuse to perform the procedure. If a procedure is performed, and it’s later determined that the woman’s life wasn’t genuinely at risk, the doctor’s licence can be revoked. As a result, many doctors delay performing abortions until the very last minute.
In the strict catholic country, many also refuse due to religious reasons. The Catholic Church has a strong presence in the country, including in politics and in the decision-making process. Pro-life propaganda can be seen everywhere.
A tragedy that made waves
Many Polish women have lost their lives because they were denied an abortion. A case that sparked outrage and protest around the country is the case of 33-year-old Dorota Lalik, who died in May 2023. Lalik was only 5 months pregnant when her water broke, and she was rushed to the hospital. According to Lalik’s husband, the hospital told the couple that their baby was in perfect health and did not inform them about the option of an abortion. At only 5 months old, the foetus has not developed its organs yet and the chances of surviving outside the mother’s womb are very low.
In 2005 the then-director of the hospital stated publicly that in his hospital abortions won’t be carried out, because they go against: “God’s law and the pope’s teaching”. After three days in the hospital, Lalik suffered from a septic shock along with organ failure. Shortly before, the foetus’ heartbeat had stopped beating. Had Lalik been offered an abortion, her survival would have been highly likely.
Lalik’s case is one of many, and Polish women were hoping for years for a change of law. During the 2023 national elections, candidate Donald Tusk promised to loosen the country’s abortion laws, which led many women to vote for him. But, with Tusk in office for almost two years as the country’s prime minister, little had changed for women and their reproductive rights. Due to the strict legislation, many women have travelled abroad to receive the procedure. Research by the cross-EU initiative “Abortion without Borders” estimates that around 1,147 Polish women travelled abroad to receive an abortion in 2024.
In most cases, Polish women travel to the neighbouring Czech Republic, where the laws on abortion are much looser. However, this option is not for everyone since it’s associated with high costs. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women calls on the Polish government for comprehensive reforms and the access to legal abortions.
The inhumane laws of Malta
One country in the European Union has an even stricter approach and more or less completely put a ban on abortion. Like in Poland, the majority of Maltese people, believe in catholic Christianity. This could be a reason behind the strong pro-life mindset. In Catholicism, abortion is seen as a planned and conscious act of ending life, in other words murder. Malta’s laws are even stricter than Poland’s, as obtaining or carrying out an abortion is punishable by the law. Article 243 in the Maltese constitution states:
“Any physician, surgeon, obstetrician, or apothecary, who shall have knowingly prescribed or administered the means whereby the miscarriage is procured, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from eighteen months to four years, and to perpetual interdiction from the exercise of his profession.”
Women who undergo the procedure can face up to three years in prison. Doctors involved may face up to four years and risk losing their medical licence.
The law makes no exceptions for women who have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Therefore, women can not decide for themselves how to handle the consequences of what has happened to them. Also, no exceptions are made if the fetus has malformations or if the mother’s health is at risk.
Pro-choice activists in the maltese capital Valletta. Credits: Joanna Demarco, TheGuardian
In 2023 the law on abortion took a slight shift towards a more progressive direction, by allowing the medical procedure when a woman suffers from a medical condition, where carrying out a pregnancy can cause death to either the mother or the baby. One condition, however, is that the abortion will only be carried out if the foetus has not reached viability yet.
The laws from 2023 were introduced after Andrea Prudente, a US-citizen who was on holiday in Malta in 2022, sued the Maltese government for denying her an abortion despite her health being at risk. She was flown to Spain instead.
Women’s rights are human rights
The laws on abortion vary across the EU member state. While some European women are guaranteed the right over their own bodies, other women’s bodies are controlled by the state. Banning safe abortions can be argued as a human rights violation and either forces women into motherhood, travelling abroad or getting an unsafe abortion, which can result in death. Some women raise their voices in that regard and fight daily for their rights to safe abortions.
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