Poland’s abortion law bickering plagues Tusk coalition

The liberalization of abortion rights was a major election promise made by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. But the issue is controversial and there are major hurdles to a new law.

Jacek Lepiarz
April 15, 2024

Polish women had to wait a long time for this day. Some four months after the center-left coalition under Donald Tusk took office, the liberalization of abortion was finally on the agenda for the Sejm, the country's lower house of parliament. The debate was fierce.

"Old men in suits will no longer decide what women must do with their bodies," shouted Anna Maria Zukowska, a member of parliament for the co-governing The Left alliance, at the presentation of the bill on Friday. "No more hell for women!"

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/polands-abortion-law-bickering-plagues-tusk-coalition/a-68812592

Conservative opposition leader Kaczynski willing to support liberalising Poland’s abortion law

APR 14, 2024
Notes from Poland

Conservative opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński has indicated he would be willing to support softening Poland’s near-total abortion ban, which was introduced under the rule of his own Law and Justice (PiS) party. But he warns this could only happen by changing the constitution.

The move marks an apparent shift from Kaczyński, who has previously expressed expressed support for the near-total ban. Another leading PiS figure, former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, has reiterated his own support for softening the law.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/04/14/conservative-opposition-leader-kaczynski-willing-to-support-liberalising-polands-abortion-law/

14.04.2024

Law and Justice party

Former Polish PM regrets restricting abortion laws in light of liberalisation push

By Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl
Apr 14, 2024

Former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki of the former ruling conservative PiS party has said he supports restoring the status quo ‘abortion compromise’ in Poland he had scrapped when in power, as lawmakers push to expand abortion access.

Morawiecki said he feels regret as the proposals now being debated in parliament are even more far-reaching than those previously in force. “If I could turn back time, yes, I would do it. I think the compromise was a bad thing, but much better than what may await us in the future,” he told RMF FM radio.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/former-polish-pm-regrets-restricting-abortion-laws-in-light-of-liberalisation-push/

14.04.2024

News

Donald Tusk

Law and Justice party

Mateusz Morawiecki

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

PM Donald Tusk faces uphill battle on reforming Polish abortion rights

Polish lawmakers voted Friday to advance bills that would lift a near-total ban on abortion in place since 2020, reviving an extremely polarising debate in the traditionally Roman Catholic country. But by launching an effort to liberalise abortion laws, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is moving to fulfil a campaign promise.

April 12, 2024
By: Sonya CIESNIK

Members of the Sejm (lower house) voted to advance four separate abortion bills on Friday that would help bring Polish law into line with widespread European standards.

Two of the bills would guarantee access to abortion through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, including the one introduced by Tusk’s Civic Platform party. A third proposes decriminalising offering assistance to a woman in terminating a pregnancy, currently punishable by three years in prison, while a fourth, stricter bill would keep the ban in place but allow abortion in cases of severe foetal defects.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240412-pm-donald-tusk-faces-uphill-battle-reforming-polish-abortion-rights-poland

Poland is debating an end to its near-total abortion ban, setting up a heated political fight

Rob Picheta, CNN
Thu April 11, 2024

Poland is debating changes to its near-total abortion ban on Thursday, re-opening one of the country’s thorniest social and political debates in an effort to overhaul some of the strictest laws on reproductive rights in Europe.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party has proposed changing the law – which currently prohibits terminations in almost all cases – to allow for abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/11/europe/poland-abortion-debate-tusk-intl/index.html

11.04.2024

Law and Justice party

Polish women ‘betrayed’ by slow pace of abortion reforms

Warsaw (AFP) – An unprecedented mobilisation among women brought a liberal alliance to power in Poland, raising hopes that one of Europe's strictest abortion laws would be scrapped. But now they feel betrayed.

March 8, 2024

A record 74 percent of eligible women voted in the October elections and the mobilisation of young female voters helped pro-Western parties oust the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Now however, many are voicing anger and frustration, saying the government is dragging its feet on changing the laws on women's reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240308-polish-women-betrayed-by-slow-pace-of-abortion-reforms-1

MPs and campaigners accuse Polish government of betrayal over abortion laws

Speaker says parliament will not consider updating country’s draconian abortion policies until mid-April

Weronika Strzyżyńska and Ashifa Kassam
Thu 7 Mar 2024

Women’s groups and politicians have taken aim at Poland’s parliamentary speaker, accusing him of betrayal and seeking to “freeze” the issue of abortion, after he said parliament would not consider legislation to tackle the country’s near-total ban on abortion until mid-April.

“We feel disappointed and betrayed,” said Dominika Ćwiek from Legal Abortion, one of the groups battling the country’s draconian abortion policies. “The rights of Polish women are being treated as a side issue.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/mps-and-campaigners-accuse-polish-government-of-betrayal-over-abortion-laws

Ex-PM says he and “many PiS colleagues” favour overturning abortion ban introduced under their rule

FEB 29, 2024
Notes from Poland

Mateusz Morawiecki, who led the former Law and Justice (PiS) government that oversaw the introduction of Poland’s near-total abortion ban, now says he and “many PiS colleagues” would vote in favour of a proposal by one of the country’s new ruling groups to overturn that ban.

In December, the national-conservative PiS party was replaced in power by a more liberal coalition led by Donald Tusk. Two of the groups in that coalition – Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) and The Left (Lewica) – want to not only end the near-total abortion ban but also introduce abortion on demand.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/02/29/ex-pm-says-he-and-many-pis-colleagues-favour-overturning-abortion-ban-introduced-under-their-rule/

Will Poland’s New Government Legalize Abortion?

Despite campaign promises, the fight for abortion rights seems far from over.

FEBRUARY 12, 2024
Foreign Policy

After Poland’s parliamentary election in October, many voters were hopeful that the new government would finally scrap the country’s strict abortion law. The law, which had been in place for three decades, was tightened further in 2020, leading to a near-total ban on abortion.

The election ended the eight-year rule of Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS), with the opposition winning enough seats to form a coalition government. In the lead-up to the vote, two of the three groups that made up the opposition—the centrist Civic Coalition and the Left—pledged to legalize abortion up to or through 12 weeks of pregnancy; the former promised to do so within the first 100 days in office.

Continued: https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/12/poland-abortion-rights-pro-choice-election-coalition-pis-law-ban/

Poland appears torn by abortion. Research hints divide isn’t so deep.

By Lenora Chu, Christian Science Monitor
February 9, 2024

Teresa Barszczowska is a proud Polish conservative, and typically votes her Law and Justice party’s line. But when it comes to a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy, she wishes her conservative leaders would have had more empathy.

That ability to put oneself in another’s shoes was missing, she says, when her party’s leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, imposed a near-total abortion ban in 2020. “He doesn’t have his family of his own; he’s a bachelor. He doesn’t know how it is,” says Ms. Barszczowska, a pensioner. “He really shouldn’t be meddling in these things.”

Continued: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2024/0209/Poland-appears-torn-by-abortion.-Research-hints-divide-isn-t-so-deep