Polish parliament rejects near-total abortion ban after protests

Thursday, Oct 6, 2016
Reuters
By Pawel Sobczak and Marcin Goettig | WARSAW

Poland's parliament overwhelmingly rejected plans for a near-total ban on abortion on Thursday after mass protests by tens of thousands of women, marking an embarrassing setback for the conservative government and the powerful Catholic Church.

The ruling Law and Justice party (PIS) had originally backed the draft proposals drawn up by an independent anti-abortion campaign group but was badly shaken by Monday's protest rallies across Poland attended by up to 100,000 women dressed in black.

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Source: Reuters