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Polish government signals U-turn on total abortion ban

As the Two-Way reported yesterday, women's rights groups had been anxious for months that the ruling Law and Justice party - which controls the parliament and the presidency, and has curtailed the power of the constitutional court - would move to restrict abortion access. After the protests, though, Karczewski said at a briefing (Polish) the plan would be halted, and that the senate instead will wait for the results of the review of the citizen's proposal by the lower chamber of parliament. Lawmakers will then vote on whether to reject it outright or whether to return it to the commission level for further consideration.

On Wednesday the European Union's Parliament is due to debate the situation of women in Poland given the proposal to restrict abortion rights. Some members called for the need to save unborn lives. One of those Polish women who took to the streets was Magda Szczesniak. "The government of PiS [Law and Justice] is not working on any law that would change the now binding regulations", she said.

Meanwhile there were counterprotests and special Catholic Masses held to support the proposal, the news service writes, and the Polish foreign minister said the protests were "creating artificial problems". Some said they don't approve of imposing criminal sentences on women who seek abortions.

In addition to placing pregnant women at extreme risk, the proposed abortion ban could hinder doctors from providing adequate care for their patients.

The right-wing government, led by the Law and Justice party, is also under global pressure not to move forward with the idea, with a debate scheduled later Wednesday in the European Parliament on the situation of women in Poland. And prime minister Beata Szydlo says the Law and Justice party "is not working" on the ban, NPR reports.

Mariusz Dzierzawski of Stop Abortion, the group that initiated the petition and proposal, was not optimistic about the law's chances either. But he didn't seem optimistic, saying the conservative lawmakers had betrayed their voters.

"Murdered children lost", he told the AP.

The proposal to make all abortions illegal, including cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life is endangered, caused outrage. Compared to around 1,000 or 2,000 legal terminations, between 10,000 and 150,000 illegal abortions are performed there, according to the BBC.

Polish women seeking abortions typically go to Germany or other neighbouring countries to get them or order abortion pills online.

The initiative, which gathered 450,000 signatures in support, is now being analysed by a parliamentary commission, while a separate proposal to liberalise abortion laws has already been rejected in a vote by MPs.

stayontheblack.com

Polish government signals U-turn on total abortion ban