Poland’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm, approved two bills on Tuesday to liberalize the country’s strict abortion laws, a move backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European coalition but expected to face a veto from conservative President Karol Nawrocki.

The first bill, proposed by Tusk’s Civic Coalition and the Left, passed with a narrow majority of 217 to 213, with three abstentions. It partially decriminalizes abortion performed with a woman’s consent in violation of existing family planning laws and removes penalties for assisting in such procedures, which currently carry up to three years in prison .

The second bill, introduced by Tusk’s more conservative coalition partners Poland 2050 and the agrarian PSL, passed 233 to 203 with one abstention. It reverses a 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that banned abortions in cases of severe fetal abnormalities, which had previously accounted for 98% of legal terminations in Poland .

Poland currently permits abortion only in cases of rape, incest, or when the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life or health. The new measures would expand access by removing criminal liability for those aiding in abortions and reinstating the fetal abnormality exception .

Katarzyna Kotula, Poland’s government equality commissioner and a Left party lawmaker, said on X after the vote: “The state trusts women. A woman who terminates her own pregnancy is already exempt from criminal punishment. It's time to stop punishing everyone who loves us, worries about us and respects our choices” .

Nawrocki, aligned with the nationalist opposition, has signaled he will veto both bills, which would block their enactment unless parliament overrides his decision . The bills now proceed to the Senate for further consideration.