Lawmakers associated with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have introduced legislation that would undo the country’s widespread preborn protections and allow abortion on demand up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Legislators in the Civic Platform (KO) group introduced the bill last week. The proposal says, “A pregnant person has the right to health care in the form of termination of pregnancy until the end of the 12th week of its duration.” The bill would also allow abortion past the 12 week period in cases of rape, if the child is diagnosed with abnormalities, or if the life of the mother is threatened.
The bill would also require that all health facilities that receive public funding commit abortions.
According to news reports, it’s unlikely that there is enough support in the Parliament for the legislation to pass. Former agriculture minister Marek Sawicki of the Polish People’s Party said he didn’t believe the majority of his party would support the proposed law. “In any case, I know that a large group of MPs will certainly not support this draft,” he told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “I do not intend to change my views [opposing abortion] under the current fashion,” he added.
The proposed legislation follows the establishment of a new coalition formed in November 2023, when the Civic Platform (KO), Third Way (Trzecia Droga), and The Left (Lewica) agreed to join forces to reform certain portions of the country’s law. That includes reforming the law prohibiting abortion. However, according to Notes from Poland, the Third Way (Trzecia Droga) does not support the liberalization of abortion laws, which is why the KO decided to introduce the legislation on its own.
Abortion has been illegal in Poland since 1993, though there have been various attempts to strip those preborn protections; in 2022, the Polish parliament rejected a similar proposal that would have allowed abortion up to 12 weeks.
According to The Washington Post, even if the legislation makes it through parliament, it could still be vetoed by President Andrzej Duda or rejected by the constitutional court.
