Translated by Celeste Valentini
The 8th of March 2025, for the International Women’s Day, the first “abortion clinic” managed by the Abortion Dream Team was opened in Warsaw: its name is “Abotak”.
Poland is notoriously restrictive towards the right to abortion: in 1993 women could abort only if the pregnancy was dangerous for the fetus or if it was a consequence of a “forbidden act”. Later, in 2020, the Constitutional Court reduced the possibility to have an abortion only in case of rape or if it was a threat for the woman’s life. This made Poland one of the most restrictive countries in Europe towards abortion, together with Malta, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra, where abortion is illegal.
In such a context, Abotak is born as a sign of protest to support women, giving them information on how to have an abortion in a legal and safe way, in a country where the outcome of the presidential elections of the 1st of June makes hard to have a less restrictive law on abortion.
What’s an “abortion clinic”?
On the website of Abotak the clinic is described “not only as a place of support, but as a place which is accessible for everyone”: the clinic isn’t a medical office, there are no specialists in there (such as doctors, psychologists or lawyers), but people who offer their time giving information and supporting women who need a logistic and an economic help or simply a guide during the process of abortion.
Outside the clinic there’s a shop where people can buy the Abortion Dream Team merchandising: on the price tags it’s indicated the number of articles to buy to be able to fund an abortion.
Can the clinic have legal consequences?
The lawyer Jerzy Podgórski explained how, according to the article 152 of the Polish Penal Code, women can’t be punished for having an abortion, but whoever help them carrying it out could be sentenced to 3 years in prison: this includes the doctors themselves and, in the right-wing party “Law and Justice” (PiS in Polish) opinion, even who provides women with abortion pills deserves this punishment.
Nevertheless, Podgórski says that being a part of the clinic is not dangerous, because “in accordance with the guidelines of the WHO, giving information on how to have an abortion in a safe way is not a crime”. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the medical abortion is a safe and effective method if managed within the first 12 weeks and only if the pregnant woman is well-informed and monitored.
Data on abortion in Poland
According to NFZ - the National Health Fund of Poland -, in 2024 887 abortions have been carried out in Poland. On the other hand, the report “Aborto Senza Frontiere – Abortion Reality 2024” registered 47.000 abortions in 2024 (an average of 130 procedures per day).
Although the majority of women chose to abort using the abortion pills, the creator of the Abotak clinic, Natalia Broniarczyk, underlines the importance of the economic help the Abortion Dream Team gave to the 1.200 women who were able to abort abroad, since they couldn’t do it in polish hospitals. The clinic became popular and more than 200 women sent an email asking for help, but soon it started to be victim of protests, vandalism and disinformation campaigns. For example, some volunteers talked about when someone driving a van used speakers to spread disinformation on abortions by stating how hurtful it was for the fetus or lying about the impossibility of having a baby once you aborted.
In virtue of this, the aim of Abotak is not only to give women material help but real and reliable information on what an abortion is and what it can implies.
And what about the politics?
The abortion laws came into effect in 2021, after a decision made by the Constitutional Court, together with the party of “Law and Justice”, and afterwards the election campaign of Donald Tusk that promised less strict laws within the first 100 days of his mandate. But Tusk took office in December 2023, and, after 500 days, the situation hasn’t changed yet. This immobility could be a consequence of the presence of the president Andrzej Duda, part of the right-wing party “Law and Justice”, who is in favor of restrictions on abortion laws.
This was the reason that led Kinga Jelinska and Natalia Broniarczyk – Abortion Dream Team founders – to the opening of the “abortion clinic” in a strategic and visible place: on the same street of the Parliament, the Presidential Chancellery and the location of the polish electoral alliance “Civic Coalition”. The choice to place the clinic nearby all of the buildings where the most important decisions of the Country are taken is a strong message of protest and an invitation for the politics to take sides.
The future of Poland
The last 1st
of June, in Poland, the run-off election of the presidential elections took place and witnessed the victory of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate of the far right-wing party “Law and Justice” (PiS). His principles are way too conservative: he’s against civil partnerships, European integration, abortion and emergency contraception.
Even the former president Duda (PiS) hampered the progressive initiatives of Tusk, but now, the cohabitation with the new Prime Minister appears to be more difficult than before.
The installation of the newly elected president will occur on the 6th of August and ‘till then the activists of Abotak invite us to do just one thing: “Buy some socks!”.
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