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

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/

In Poland, I Saw What a Second Trump Term Could Do to America

by Michelle Goldberg
Photographs by Rafal Milach
Feb. 6, 2024

Adam Bodnar, Poland’s new justice minister, recently explained to me the immense challenge of rebuilding liberal democracy in his country after an eight-year slide toward authoritarianism. Imagine, he said, that Donald Trump had won the last election and been in power for two terms instead of one. “What would be the damage?” he asked.

After only four years of Trump, President Biden inherited a furiously divided nation, its courts seeded with right-wing apparatchiks and the nature of reality itself in deep dispute. But as even MAGA die-hards will acknowledge, Trump often failed to bend the state to his will, which is why his allies have a plan to do things differently next time, purging civil servants and replacing them with loyalists. Poland is a country that has just gone through something like what Trumpists hope to impose on us in a second term. Its institutions have been hollowed out. Many experienced technocrats and neutral judges have been replaced by lackeys and ideologues.

Continue: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/opinion/abortion-ban-poland-democracy.html

Half of public support Tusk’s aim to introduce abortion on demand in Poland, find polls

FEB 2, 2024
Notes from Poland

Two new polls have found that around half of the public support the proposals recently put forward by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) and one of its coalition partners, The Left (Lewica), to introduce abortion on demand.

A poll by the IBRiS agency for broadcaster Radio Zet published on Wednesday asked respondents whether abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy should be allowed in any circumstances and without providing a reason.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/02/02/half-of-public-support-tusks-aim-to-introduce-abortion-on-demand-in-poland-find-polls/

02.02.2024

Law and Justice party

Mateusz Morawiecki

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

public support for abortion

Poland shows the difficulties of trying to reverse an abortion ban

By Kate Brady and Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post
January 27, 2024

PRENZLAU, Germany — Only 30 miles separate the two clinics where gynecologist Maria Kubisa works, but what’s legal at her clinic on this side of the border would be criminal at the clinic back in Poland.

So women have been crossing over to seek help from Kubisa on this side, especially in the past three years, since a Polish court backed by a ring-wing government imposed a near-ban on abortion.

Unlocked: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/27/poland-abortion-12-weeks-donald-tusk/

Poland’s near-total ban on abortion violated pregnant woman’s rights, finds European court

DEC 14, 2023
Notes from Poland

Poland’s near-total ban on abortion violated the rights of a woman who had to travel abroad to terminate her foetus, which had been diagnosed with Down syndrome, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

It issued the ruling on the basis that three of the judges involved in issuing the 2020 Constitution Tribunal (TK) ruling that toughened the abortion law were appointed in an illegitimate manner by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government and President Andrzej Duda.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/12/14/polands-near-total-ban-on-abortion-violated-pregnant-womans-rights-finds-european-court/

14.12.2023

European Court of Human Rights

Law and Justice party

M.L. in Poland

Mateusz Morawiecki

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

Polish Left announces bills to liberalise abortion law on first day of new parliament

Notes from Poland
NOV 14, 2023

The Left (Lewica), which is part of the coalition likely to form Poland’s new government, announced two bills to liberalise the country’s strict abortion laws on the first day of parliament yesterday.

One would end the current near-total ban on abortion and instead introduce abortion on demand. The other would end the criminalisation of those who help women obtain abortions. However, it appears unlikely that the bills will enjoy support from more conservative elements of the new coalition.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/11/14/polish-left-announces-bills-to-liberalise-abortion-law-on-first-day-of-new-parliament/

Pushing for abortion ban was a “mistake”, admits Polish prime minister

Notes from Poland
Nov 6, 2023

Poland’s prime minister has admitted that it was a “mistake” for MPs from his ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to submit the application that led the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) to introduce a near-total ban on abortion in 2020.

Mateusz Morawiecki says that he “has always been a supporter” of the abortion law that existed before the TK ruling and he believes that tightening the law may have contributed to PiS losing its parliamentary majority at last month’s elections.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/11/06/pushing-for-abortion-ban-was-a-mistake-admits-polish-prime-minister/

06.11.2023

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

Thousands protest in Poland against strict abortion law after pregnant woman died of sepsis

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press

June 14, 2023

WARSAW, Poland -- Thousands of people demonstrated across Poland on Wednesday against the country's restrictive abortion law after a woman who was five months pregnant died of sepsis, the latest such death since a tightening of the law.

The protesters vented their fury against the governing Law and Justice party, or PiS, and doctors who refuse to perform abortions even when a woman's life is at risk. There have been reported cases of hospitals that refused to terminate pregnancies because of the presence of a fetal heartbeat even when the women were in grave danger.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/abortion-rights-protests-planned-poland-after-death-pregnant-100063909