Despite the strict ban on abortion, every third Polish woman had an abortion. As a result, the Parliament is now considering the liberalization of the most restrictive law on termination of pregnancy in Europe. Conservatives are resisting and mobilizing their supporters
The long-awaited debate on the liberalization of the strict abortion law was held in the Polish parliament. The traditionally Catholic nation has one of the strictest laws in Europe, but at the same time many women end their pregnancies at home with the help of pills mailed to them from abroad, writes Voice of America (VOA).
Members of the lower house of parliament are considering four proposals for changes to the current law and will vote on Friday on whether to pass them on.
Strong influence of the Catholic Church
Abortion in Poland is regulated by a law from 1993, which was influenced by the Catholic Church, and additional restrictions were introduced by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which defends abortion even in the case of fetal anomalies.
"Banning abortion does not work. One in three women in Poland had an abortion, one in three. I'm one of them and I'm certainly not alone in this," said leftist MP Katarina Ueberan during the discussion.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who returned to power in December 2023 after eight years of rule by a conservative party that banned abortion, wants to legalize termination of pregnancy up to the 12th week. But the three-party coalition is divided on the issue and the conservative part wants the issue to be postponed until the end of the local elections next weekend.
Public opinion polls show support for a more liberal law, but supporters of a total ban are also mobilized, writes Voice of America.
Mobilization of conservatives
Conservative MP Darius Matecki played the sound of a baby's heartbeat over the loudspeaker and carried a poster with a picture of a fetus and the inscription "10 weeks after conception".
Vladislav Kurovski from the opposition conservative party Pravo i Pravda said that MPs should consider the problem of declining birth rates and that they must "resolutely oppose the crime against the Polish people".
At the same time, anti-abortion groups held a demonstration in front of the parliament.
"Even if these criminal and murderous laws pass, the voice of the pro-life community will stand up against it and fight for the unborn," said protester Marcin Perlovski.
Conservative politicians are in positions that could stop change.
One of them is President Andrzej Duda, who has the right to veto and recently used it for a bill that would allow the sale of "morning after" pills without a prescription to girls over 15 years old, Voice of America reports.
The other is the Speaker of the Parliament, Simon Holovnia, who previously wanted to become a Dominican friar. Proponents of abortion rights accuse him of violating the will of the voters because he has not put the issue on the agenda for months.
"He is a Christian fundamentalist who abuses the position of president of the parliament," says Marta Lampart, the leader of the organization Women strike which is protesting the restriction of the right to abortion.
Conscientious objection of doctors in force
According to the current law, doctors in Poland can only terminate a pregnancy if the woman's health is at risk or if the pregnancy resulted from a criminal act. But doctors do not perform abortions even when the law allows them to do so citing conscientious objection.
In the past years, there have also been cases where women with problematic pregnancies died because doctors prioritized the life of the fetus.
Women who became pregnant after rape have the right to an abortion if they report the rape to the prosecutor's office. But, in practice, they don't do that because they want to avoid the double stigma of rape and abortion, says Natalija Broniarzyk, an activist of the organization Abortion Dream Team which enables Polish women to obtain abortion pills from abroad.
"There is no trust in the system," Broniarzyk said, adding that about 120.000 abortions occur annually in Poland, 50.000 of which were facilitated by her group.
Morning after pills from abroad
Activist Kinga Jelinska, which is helping to deliver pills from the Netherlands to Poland, says it is following the instructions of the World Health Organization - which emphasizes that pills are the safest method of terminating a pregnancy.
"Neither the state, nor doctors, but feminists like me and my colleagues enable the largest number of abortions in this country," she said in parliament, holding a pack of pills in her hand.
According to Polish law, it is not the abortion itself that is considered a crime, but the provision of assistance to a woman with the intention of terminating the pregnancy, which is punishable by three years in prison. Leftists suggest decriminalizing it. Two other bills seek to legalize abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
The fourth bill, introduced by the parliamentary speaker's conservative party, returns Poland to the pre-2020 situation, which means that women can only have an abortion in case of a fetal anomaly, but in all other cases abortion remains prohibited.
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