Parliament takes first step towards liberalization

Four draft texts liberalizing access to abortion in Poland, submitted by members of the ruling pro-EU coalition, passed a first obstacle in Parliament on Friday. Motions calling for these texts to be rejected were rejected by MPs.

Special Parliamentary Commission

The alliance of pro-EU parties came to power in October promising to legalize abortion, which is currently only permitted if the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest, or if it poses a threat directly to the life or health of the mother.

“We keep our word!” Parliament will deal with all projects relating to the right to abortion,” welcomed the Civic Coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk on social networks.

Proposed laws aimed at granting women more reproductive rights must now be submitted to a special parliamentary committee.

Possible dead end

But even if parliament approves the reforms, President Andrzej Duda, a conservative Catholic and allied with the nationalist opposition PiS party, is unlikely to sign them into law.

The government alliance, made up of the Civic Coalition and its Third Way (Christian Democratic) partners and the left, does not have the three-fifths majority required to overturn a presidential veto.

In the event of an impasse, the alliance will have to wait until next year’s presidential election, hoping to see Andrzej Duda replaced by a liberal candidate.

“I would like this commission to finish its work before the presidential election,” Natalia Broniarczyk of the Abortion Dream Team told reporters after the vote. “I have a very serious question to ask the presidential candidates: what will you do with the bill that will come out of this committee? »

According to a poll by the Ipsos institute, published Thursday, 35% of Poles support the right to abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. A restoration of this right in the event of fetal malformation, abolished by the nationalist government, is in this regard desired by 21% of those questioned, while, for 14% of them, the current state of the legislation is satisfactory . And 23% of Poles would like a national referendum on the issue.