Poland’s New Government Has Agreed To Start Drafting Laws To Lift Its Near-Total Ban On Abortion
In 2020, Poland’s right-wing government outlawed abortions for fetal abnormalities, banning abortions for almost all cases.
Poland’s new government has agreed to start drafting laws to lift its near-total ban on abortion.
In 2020, Poland’s right-wing government outlawed abortions for fetal abnormalities, banning abortions for almost all cases.
Abortions are currently only allowed in instances of rape, incest or if there is a threat to the woman’s health or life.
This accounts for only about two percent of all legal abortions in Poland in recent years, according to the Guardian.
Since 2020, several women have died after they were denied abortions, and others have been sentenced for helping people to get abortion pills and terminate their pregnancies.
But in October 2023, people in Poland voted out the right-wing government for the first time in eight years.
And on Friday, April 12, lawmakers in the new center-left government voted to keep working on 4 bills that would ease access to abortion.
Two of the bills would legalize abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, which is the norm in Europe.
The third one would make it no longer a crime to help people terminate their pregnancies.
And the fourth one would still keep the ban in most cases but reverse the 2020 ruling and allow abortions in the case of fetal abnormalities.
Making abortion accessible was a central campaign promise of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Kassy Cho
Kassy Cho
Selina Wu
