The EU parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the bloc's 27 countries to ensure the right to legal and safe abortion. Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki said the document was purely declarative and that it wouldn't affect Polish law.
European Union lawmakers on Thursday passed a resolution calling for the bloc's 27 countries to ensure the right to legal and safe abortion in a push to improve women's sexual and reproductive health.
The non-binding resolution, passed by 378 to 255 votes, said the COVID-19 pandemic had limited access to many services crucial for sexual and reproductive health and rights, illustrating how the pandemic has affected women more than men.
The vote came on the same day as a referendum in Gibraltar on whether it should ease one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday was asked about the resolution adopted by the EU parliament.
"This document does not affect Polish legal situation. This is a declarative document of the European Parliament, whose political composition is what it is" - the prime minister said.
While most of Europe has legalised abortion, some countries impose restrictions, and deep divisions over abortion rights remain.
Rights activists say women's rights in Europe have come under pressure in recent years, especially in Poland, whose nationalist government has introduced a de-facto ban on abortion.
The parliamentary resolution calls on EU countries to step up regular health screenings, improve access to contraception and fertility treatments, and combat menstrual poverty.
It calls for laws to be passed to safeguard the rights of intersex persons and demands better sexual education for children.
The vote followed a heated debate in the chamber, where lawmakers ended up voting on more than 50 amendments to the resolution.
Supporters argued that the strengthening of sexual and reproductive health and rights was necessary to ensure equality and honour democratic human rights.
Opponents said access to abortion would not improve women's health and that the right to life was fundamental.
The head of the Polish episcopate Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki expressed his disapproval of the EU parliament's resolution. "I am deeply saddened by the European Parliament resolution calling for the possibility of killing unborn children. The culture of life envisaged by the Founding Fathers of the EU is turning into a culture of death and exclusion, with ideology taking precedence over reason" - he said in a tweet.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP