Constitutional standards of protection of the life of the conceived child in the Polish legal order

Marcin Olszówka; Bartosz Zalewski

doi:10.37873/er8x6g98

Constitutional standards of protection of the life of the conceived child in the Polish legal order

Marcin Olszówka

Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School

Bartosz Zalewski

Ordo Iuris Institute

Publication:

Protection of human life at the prenatal stage of development: Social, medical and legal aspects

Series: Ordo Iuris Library

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37873/b886w187

Keywords: protection of human life, prenatal stage of development, abortion, conceived child, right to life, contraceptives, maternal mortality, mental health complications of abortion, constitutional standards of protection of life, family planning act

Published: June 17, 2026

The chapter reconstructs the constitutional standard for protecting the life of a conceived child under Articles 1, 2, 18, 30, and 38 of the 1997 Polish Constitution, drawing on Constitutional Tribunal rulings, including those of 28 May 1997 (K 26/96) and 22 October 2020 (K 1/20), and relevant literature.

The legislature's obligation to protect the life of a conceived child follows primarily from Article 30, requiring respect for inherent, inalienable human dignity as the source of all rights and freedoms; dignity attaches to man as a being of special ontological status arising from belonging to the human species. Article 38 guarantees legal protection of every human being's life, including the unborn, regardless of health or conception circumstances.

Other provisions are subsidiary: Article 1 (common good), Article 2 (democratic rule of law), and Article 18 (protection of motherhood, a relationship established at karyogamy).

Marcin Olszówka, Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School

Doctor of Law, assistant professor at the College of Legal Sciences of the Nicolaus Copernicus University and at the Faculty of Law of the University Collegium Intermarium in Warsaw, member of the Legislative Council of the 14th term at the Prime Minister’s Office, deputy editor-in-chief of “The Legal Culture”. From 2021 to 2024, director of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the Government Legislation Center and head of the legislative application conducted by the Government Legislation Center. From 2010 to 2014, an assistant at the Department of Constitutional Law and European Studies of the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. Doctoral dissertation entitled Impact of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997 on the system of sources of religious law defended with distinction at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw in November 2016. Author of dozens of scientific publications, mainly in the field of constitutional law, religious law and bioethics, including several monographs, articles in high-scoring scientific journals and co-author of a commentary to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland published in 2016 by the C.H. Beck Publishing House.

Bartosz Zalewski, Ordo Iuris Institute

Doctor of legal sciences. Legal advisor. Graduate of law studies at the Faculty of Law and Administration of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. Research and teaching fellow at the Department of Political and Legal Doctrines and Roman Law of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. Expert of the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture and the Cegielski Analysis
Center. Author of numerous publications on Roman law and legal history.

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How to Cite

Olszówka, M. and Zalewski, B. (2026) “Constitutional standards of protection of the life of the conceived child in the Polish legal order”, in Kwaśniewski, J. (ed.) Protection of human life at the prenatal stage of development: Social, medical and legal aspects. Warszawa: Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture - Scientific Press (Ordo Iuris Library). doi:10.37873/b886w187.