Poland’s parliament approved two bills on Tuesday that would liberalise the country’s strict abortion laws. Source: Crux Now.
One bill would seek to allow abortions for fetal abnormalities, which passed by 233 to 203, while the other bill would decriminalise helping a woman have an unlawful abortion, which passed by 217 to 213.
However, even if the bills pass the senate, it is expected that President Karol Nawrocki will veto both bills as he previously suggested he wouldn’t sign a bill decriminalising abortion into law.
The bill allowing abortions for fetal abnormalities would reverse the ruling from the constitutional tribunal in 2020 under the Law and Justice party.
That judgment, which came into force in January 2021, removed fetal abnormalities as a ground for abortion leaving it legal in two instances: When the mother’s life or health is at risk or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. That ruling led to protests in Poland.
On Tuesday, Mr Nawrocki’s chief of staff said that the president “supports the protection of life from conception to natural death”.
The current ruling coalition, headed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, considered more centrist, with a range of parties from left to centre-right, pledged to soften abortion laws when it took power in December 2023.
However, up until now it has failed to do so, primarily due to in-fighting within the coalition.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Sosnowiec Bishop Artur Ważny wrote on X calling for the defence of life in the country.
“The defence of the defenceless, especially the unborn human being, is for me an absolute foundation that I cannot and do not wish to abandon,” he said.
“At the same time, with immense concern, respect, and empathy, I bend down to every woman experiencing the dramatic fear of giving birth to her sick or unwanted child. The firm defence of the life of the smallest does not mean numbness to your pain,” he added.
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Polish parliament approves two bills liberalising abortion (By Fionn Shiner, Crux Now)
