Poland's lower house of parliament on Thursday rejected a bill liberalising Poland's very strict abortion rules. The draft legislation was put forward as a civil initiative and assumed, among other things, introducing a right to abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In the vote, 265 deputies were in favour of rejecting the draft legislation, 175 were against its rejection, and 4 abstained.
The citizens bill on safe pregancy termination and other reproductive rights was submitted in the Sejm by the "Legal abortion without compromise" legislative initiative committee. The draft legislation was signed by more than 200,000 citizens. It assumed, among other things, introducing a right to free abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy without asking women for reasons, and after that period in cases when the pregancy is the result of rape or incest, when it poses risk to the health of life of the woman, or when prenatal testing shows the serious developmental or genetic defects of the foetus.
Presenting the bill in the Sejm on Wednesday evening, the leader of Women's Strike Marta Lempart said the draft legislation would change the Polish law "so that it matches European and world standards in terms of protection of women's life and health".
"I come to you with a bill that adjusts Polish law to the reality in which we all live, our reality and your reality, including your daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and friends," she added.
Lempart also said that the proposed bill was based solely on hard data, facts and the science of medicine. "I come to you with a bill which not only is consistent with the constitution, but removes from the legal system regulations that are inconsistent with the constitution, inconsistent with science, and inconsistent with European and world standards," she said.
Currently, abortion in Poland is legal in two cases: when pregnancy poses a threat to health or life of a woman, or when it was a result of rape or incest.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP