Two years after the abortion guidelines. Life defence signatures went to the President

Representatives of the Center of Life and household and the Ordo Iuris Institute submitted 17 1000 signatures collected under the petition "President, halt abortion". Signatories call on Karol Nawrocki, as guardian of the Constitution, to mention to the Constitutional Court a request to examine compliance with the basic law of the Ministry of wellness guidelines on abortion. On behalf of both organizations, the signatures were given by Marcin Perłowski, Vice president of the Management Board of Ordo Iuris and manager of the Centre of Life and Family. The submission took place in connection with the forthcoming second anniversary of the publication of the guidelines.

Petition, available at The president Stops Abortions.pl, is addressed to president Karol Nawrocki. Its signatories compose plainly that they address him, as guardian of the Constitution, a request for intervention in the Constitutional Court. The petitioners request that the president send a request to the Constitutional Court to examine the constitutional compatibility of guidelines issued by the Ministry of wellness on access to abortion. In their assessment, these guidelines in practice extend the admissibility of abortion beyond the limits laid down in the current law, and thus accept the constitutional warrant of the protection of human life from conception.

The disputed guidelines for doctors and prosecutors were announced on 30 August 2024 by then Minister of wellness Izabela Leschina, along with Prime Minister Donald Tuski and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar. According to their content, the condition of a woman's wellness risk, 1 of the statutory conditions for legal abortion, should be interpreted broadly, besides taking into account the danger to intellectual health. In practice, this means that 1 psychiatrist’s doctor’s certificate, issued on the basis of a teleporad, may be adequate to halt the pregnancy.

The guidelines besides supply for sanctions for hospitals that refuse to execute abortion, despite the contract concluded with the National wellness Fund: a financial punishment of up to 2% of the contract value, the anticipation to terminate the contract without notice, and the punishment of up to PLN 500 1000 imposed by the Ombudsman of Patient Rights.

The Ordo Iuris Institute has consistently emphasised since the guidelines were published that they do not have the power of universal law and cannot replace the bill and that doctors are not obliged to apply them. In September 2025, the Institute filed a study on this matter. Notice to the National Prosecutor's Office, indicating that the guidelines may have contributed to the loud case of abortion in Oleśnica at week 36.