Civic Platform called for changes in the law to allow pregnancies to be terminated on demand

However while the centrist Civic Platform (PO) announced a change in its platform, legislative changes are unlikely in the current parliamentary term, which is due to continue until 2023.

A Constitutional Court ruling mandating a near total ban on abortion from last October has upturned nearly three decades of broad consensus in Poland that abortion should be allowed only in the case of rape, incest, a threat to the mother's health and foetal abnormality.

The ruling also exposed growing support among young voters in particular for a liberalisation of abortion rules in line with the European mainstream, despite the government's backing of the court verdict.

The PO said on Thursday it wanted women to have access to abortions at up to 12 weeks of pregnancy in "difficult" situations after consulting with a doctor and psychologist, while also calling for broader access to sex education, birth control, in vitro and prenatal testing. "This is a response to what our voters expect. A clear stance on this matter," PO head Borys Budka told a news conference.

An SW Research poll conducted soon after the court ruling indicates that over 70% of Poles were against the decision to further restrict abortion rights in the country.