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They poured on to streets across Poland in their hundreds of thousands, carrying placards reading “The revolution has a uterus” and “My body, my choice”. In late 2023 they helped vote in a prime minister who promised a swift overhaul of the country’s draconian abortion laws.
Now, after more than a year of stalled promises, Polish abortion campaigners are taking matters into their own hands, setting up a pregnancy termination centre on one of the country’s corridors of power.
“We want this place to be in TripAdvisor, telling people you have to see this place in Warsaw,” said Natalia Broniarczyk, of the NGO Abortion Dream Team. “Because this is the first abortion centre in democratic Poland.”
The centre is due to open its doors on Saturday, offering a safe space for people to ask questions and consult on abortion options. Each interaction will be tailored to the needs of those who enter: some will walk out with information, others may receive pointers on how to obtain abortion pills or be given the option to remain in the centre and receive support while they take the pill.
Located a stone’s throw from parliament and the headquarters of the ruling Civic Coalition, the centre is a direct challenge to the country’s near total ban on abortion. “It’s symbolic. Wiejska Street is the most important street in Warsaw. The most important decisions are being taken there – now on abortions too,” Broniarczyk said.
It remains to be seen how officials will respond. While the possession or ingestion of abortion pills is not outlawed in Poland, provision of the medication or helping someone to obtain it is considered a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.
“What we’re doing could be recognised as illegal,” said Justyna Wydrzyńska, of Abortion Dream Team, which has long provided Polish women with information and support, including pointers on how to acquire the abortion pill. “But this government is not responding to the needs of women. And this is a risk to health and life. So we have to react and there’s no other solution than to help people.”
In the run-up to the 2023 election, the now prime minister, Donald Tusk, vowed that his Civic Coalition would liberalise abortion laws within 100 days of being elected.
More than 500 days later, the near total ban remains in place. In August, Tusk conceded that the election result meant there was “simply no majority” to change the laws to allow abortions until the 12th week of pregnancy. His party later said efforts to relax the laws would resume after presidential elections due in May.
However, Tusk added a line that hinted how things might be different under his government. “I can only promise that within the framework of the existing law we will do everything to make women suffer less, to make abortion as safe as possible and accessible when a woman has to make such a decision. So that people who get involved in helping a woman are not prosecuted,” he said.
Those at Abortion Dream Team seized on his words, announcing their plans for the centre and launching a crowdfunding campaign soon after.
Months later, their vision is set to become reality. Four staff members have been hired to consult anyone who walks through door, offering a free service that will be funded by donations and sales of merchandise at the centre.
“We want to show politicians that the difference between us and them is that we want to provide abortion and they don’t want to,” Broniarczyk said. “So we want to challenge them and show them that we’re not doing anything wrong. And we have only one ask: stop prosecuting us.”
The organisation has long wrestled with the nuances of the law. After years of evading the law by referring women who sought abortions to organisations based abroad, in 2022 Wydrzyńska became the country’s first pro-choice activist to be charged with breaking the law, after she provided miscarriage-inducing tablets to a pregnant woman. Last month a judge ordered a retrial in the case.
Broniarczyk and Wydrzyńska are confident that the centre will not be immediately shut down. Instead, Broniarczyk worries that authorities will quietly work behind the scenes to complicate their efforts, by hauling them in for regular police questioning or portraying them as “crazy, radical women” to downplay one of the country’s flashpoints.
She waved off concerns about protesters, pointing to the centre’s location. “This is the most protected street in Warsaw. We are surrounded by soldiers,” she said.
For Wydrzyńska, the biggest worry is that nobody will show up, potentially turned off by protesters or onlookers gathered outside the centre.
Otherwise they are ready for whatever else may come. “We’ve been doing this for 20 years, so we know what we’re doing,” Wydrzyńska said. “We know that we are this group who is pushing the limits, who is checking how society will react, what politicians will do. And we’re always happy to start the conversation.”
