Persistence of Abortion Stigma Inscribed in the Legal Framework: The Case of Abortion Attitudes in Poland.

This article examines the long-term impact of Poland's restrictive 1993 "abortion compromise" law on societal and individual attitudes toward abortion, highlighting the central role of abortion stigma rooted in gendered sexuality norms and Catholic doctrine. Using mixed methods—including longitudinal survey data from the Center for Public Opinion Research and in-depth interviews with young women—the study reveals a convergence of "pro-choice" and "pro-life" perspectives that largely accept abortion only under the limited exceptions defined by the law, such as threats to the woman's life or pregnancy resulting from rape. The 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling further tightened abortion restrictions by removing the embryo-pathological exception, intensifying challenges to women's agency and reproductive rights. The findings underscore how abortion stigma, reinforced by legal frameworks and religious morality, frames abortion as a private, morally fraught issue, complicating efforts by the women's rights movement to liberalize abortion laws in Poland and offering insights relevant to similar conservative shifts globally.