Poland’s constitutional tribunal has ruled that abortion due to foetal defects is unconstitutional, rejecting the most common of the few legal grounds for pregnancy termination in the predominantly Catholic country. The chief justice, Julia Przyłębska, said in a ruling that existing legislation – one of Europe’s most restrictive – that allows for the abortion of malformed foetuses was “incompatible” with the constitution.

After the ruling goes into effect, abortion will only be permissible in Poland in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s health and life, which make up only about 2% of legal terminations conducted in recent years.

The verdict drew immediate condemnation from the Council of Europe, whose commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović, called it “a sad day for women’s rights”.

“Removing the basis for almost all legal abortions in Poland amounts to a ban and violates human rights,” Mijatović tweeted. “Today’s ruling ... means underground/abroad abortions for those who can afford and even greater ordeal for all others.”

The court ruling could pave the way for lawmakers from the governing rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) to approve draft legislation that would ban pregnancy terminations in the case of foetuses with congenital birth defects. Read more via Guardian