Position of the Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference on the Resolution of the European Parliament “My Voice, My Choice: For Safe and Accessible Abortion”

Resolution of the European Parliament

On 17 December 2025, by adopting the resolution “My Voice, My Choice: For Safe and Accessible Abortion”, the European Parliament made yet another attempt to impose on the Member States legislation legalising the killing of an unborn child. The resolution calls upon the European Commission to establish a voluntary, solidarity-based financial mechanism (funded from the budget of the European Union) enabling those Member States which consent thereto to ensure access to safe abortion for persons for whom such access is restricted or impossible (without harmonisation of national law). Furthermore, it emphasises that access to “safe” and legal abortion is part of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), recognised as a fundamental right. The document expresses concern regarding legal and practical barriers in certain Member States and calls for reforms in accordance with international standards, while reiterating the earlier call to enshrine the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference noted with some satisfaction the fact that Polish Members of the European Parliament, with a few exceptions, did not support this resolution, expressing unequivocal opposition or abstaining from voting. It should be recalled that, under European law, the issue of abortion is not regulated at the level of the European Union and remains within the exclusive competence of the Member States. The EU has no competence to legalise, prohibit, or finance abortion in a manner binding upon its members. All resolutions of the European Parliament in this matter are legally non-binding.

The Unlawful Character of the European Parliament’s Resolution

Pursuant to Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Union shall respect the responsibilities of the Member States for the definition of their health policy and for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care. Abortion is treated as an element of health policy; accordingly, the EU possesses only supporting competences (e.g. the exchange of best practices), but may neither harmonise nor impose legislation in this field.

The Act of Accession of Poland to the European Union (signed in Athens on 16 April 2003, and entering into force on 1 May 2004) likewise contains no provisions concerning abortion. Poland acceded to the EU on the basis of acceptance of the existing acquis communautaire, within which abortion was not (and is not) regulated.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (having treaty status since the Treaty of Lisbon) makes no reference to abortion, neither as a right nor as a prohibition. It does not recognise abortion as a fundamental right. The European Parliament has repeatedly called for the inclusion of the “right to safe and legal abortion” in the Charter (e.g. in resolutions of 2022, 2023, and 2024), but such amendments would require the unanimous consent of all Member States and an amendment of the Treaties (Article 48 TEU), which has not taken place.

Furthermore, the resolution fails to take into account the entry into force of Protocol No. 15 of 24 June 2013, a legally binding international agreement in force since 1 August 2021, introducing explicitly into the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights the concept of the margin of appreciation (Articles 7 and 8 of the Protocol), forming one of the foundations of the contemporary system for the protection of human rights. This concept consists in leaving to national authorities, including in particular constitutional courts, a certain degree of discretion in the application of international human rights standards, as confirmed both in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and in the practice of the Human Rights Committee. The European Court of Human Rights accords States a wide margin of appreciation as regards the point in time from which such protection is afforded. The margin of appreciation constitutes a norm of so-called hard international law. The resolution, by contrast, is of the nature of soft law, which may at most interpret existing hard law, i.e. treaties, conventions, and international agreements. The resolution, however, directly contravenes them. Soft law in practice shapes the content of human rights, and its legitimacy depends upon its genuine grounding in the protection of human dignity, for any detachment from that foundation would lead merely to an apparent, rather than a real, protection thereof.

The Unambiguous Position of the Church

From the very beginning of her existence, the Church has consistently defended the inviolability of human life from conception, recognising a direct attack on the life of an unborn child as a grave moral evil. The documents of the Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, drawing upon the pronouncements of the Magisterium of the Church, emphasise medical, ethical, legal, and theological arguments in opposition to all forms of termination of pregnancy[1]. Human life is inviolable from the moment of its inception (that is, from conception) until natural death, and it is the duty of every individual, of society as a whole, and of the State as an institution to ensure its adequate legal protection and proper development.

Importantly, contrary to the narrative advanced by proponents of abortion (as well as in relation to the title of the European Parliament’s resolution), abortion is never safe, since its very nature consists in the taking of the life of an unborn child existing in the mother’s womb. It therefore constitutes a grave interference not only with the organism of the child, but also with that of the mother. An attempt is thus made to falsify reality by depriving the unborn child of its human and personal status. Distorted terminology is employed, whereby seemingly innocuous expressions serve to conceal the crime of killing perpetrated against an innocent human being.

The right to life is the most fundamental of rights, forming the basis for the exercise of the paramount right: the right to respect for the dignity of the human person. The tragedy of contemporary civilisation lies in subjecting both of these rights to debate and to a vote. In this manner, “the original and inalienable right to life is questioned or denied on the basis of a parliamentary vote or the will of one part of the people – even if it is the majority. This is the sinister result of a relativism which reigns unopposed: the ‘right’ ceases to be such, because it is no longer firmly founded on the inviolable dignity of the person, but is made subject to the will of the stronger part. In this way, democracy, contradicting its own principles, effectively moves towards a form of totalitarianism. The State is no longer the ‘common home’ where all can live together on the basis of principles of fundamental equality, but is transformed into a tyrant State, which arrogates to itself the right to dispose of the life of the weakest and most defenceless members, from the unborn child to the elderly, in the name of a public interest which is really nothing but the interest of one part. The appearance of the strictest respect for legality is maintained, at least when the laws permitting abortion and euthanasia are the result of a ballot in accordance with what are generally seen as the rules of democracy. Really, what we have here is only the tragic caricature of legality; the democratic ideal, which is only truly such when it acknowledges and safeguards the dignity of every human person, is betrayed in its very foundations (John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, no. 20).

A Look Into the Future

The Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference recalls that the right to life and human dignity are inalienable and fundamental in character. The weak and defenceless, with unborn children making up a special group, require protection and support both at the institutional level, on the part of the State, and at the social level, on the part of people of good will. It is not sufficient to say that one must not kill. Life, especially one that is fragile and defenceless, must be protected and surrounded with genuine care. The Church fulfils this task through “baby hatches” and adoption centres, children’s homes, homes for single mothers, and shelters for victims of domestic violence. These are run by diocesan institutions, religious orders, Caritas, as well as foundations and associations established by clergy and laity. The activity of these institutions is often made possible solely through donations and the commitment of people of good will.

It is particularly striking and regrettable that the European Parliament adopted its resolution almost on the eve of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord. Once again, there was no room for the Child who brings peace to people of good will. Therefore, paraphrasing the words of Saint John Paul II, one must express a stark warning: in a Europe that kills its own children, there will be no peace. There will be no future for such a Europe.

The Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference calls upon those in positions of authority, politicians, and all people of good will, both clergy and laity, to take any and all measures to ensure the full protection of every human life from the moment of its conception until natural death. Love life; every life! This is our voice, this is our duty, this is our choice and our task: to protect every human life.

On behalf of the Team of Experts for Bioethics of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Bishop Józef Wróbel SCJ

Warsaw, 7 January 2026

Translation from the Polish original: Marcin Turski