Poland

Poland Information Region Europe Population 38518241 GDP (millions USD) 420,284 National Policies Eggs for assisted reproduction ? Eggs for research ? Inheritable genetic modification PROHIBITED Preimplantation genetic diagnosis ? Reproductive cloning PROHIBITED Research cloning PROHIBITED Sex selection ? Surrogacy PROHIBITED International Agreements 1997 COE Biomedicine Convention signed 1998 COE Cloning Convention signed 2005 UN Cloning Vote YES 2005 UNESCO Sports Doping Convention RATIFIED 2007 Treaty of Lisbon RATIFIED

Key laws and policies

• Act on Family Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination (January 1993)

• Act on the Medical Profession (Dz. U. z 2002 r. Nr 21 poz. 204 z pó˚n. zm.) (December 5, 1996)

• The Health Care Institutions Act of April 15, 2011

• The Medical Ethics Code (http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU20030900845)

Foundational values

"The right to life enjoys protection, including the pre-natal phase, within limits specified in the Act" (Article 1 of the Act on Family Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Legal Pregnancy Termination).

Prohibited practices

The following acts are prohibited:

• Research using embryos
• Research using cell products derived from embryos
• Surrogacy
• Cloning is prohibited implicitly and specifically by the Code of Ethics for physicians.

Note: Surrogacy arrangements are contrary to the general principles of the Polish law concerning filiation. They are considered null and void under Art. 58 of the Polish Civil Code.

History

There have been attempts to regulate the in vitro methods but none of the draft proposals gained sufficient support.