The first step that could be taken regarding abortion regulations is a return to the status quo before the Constitutional Court ruling; later there should be a referendum on changes to the abortion law, Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia told PAP.
On Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in an interview for TVN24, TVP and Polsat News that KO will submit its project, which gives the right to a safe abortion up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, under certain conditions.
Since I have not convinced Marshal Hołownia and Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz to accept the project of legal abortion until the twelfth week of pregnancy, we will try to pass it in the Sejm.
– said the Prime Minister.
PAP asked the chairman of the Sejm about the project announced by the head of government. Szymon Hołownia replied that he would comment on the project when he saw it.
We have often said that a return to the status quo, to what was the subject of a compromise that did not satisfy many, (…) is the first step that can be taken on this path.
– he said. As he added, “This bill will most likely not be vetoed by (President) Andrzej Duda.”
Hołownia also emphasized that a return to – as he said – the status quo “is not enough”.
Then – in our opinion – there must be a referendum, and according to fellow coalition partners – the laws we will try to introduce. This will be the subject of coalition agreements
– said the Chairman of the Sejm.
What will make Hołownia happy?
Hołownia pointed out that “if there is a real project to adopt such a law that will restore the status quo before the judgment of the Constitutional Court, this shameful judgment”, he will be happy about it.
The anti-abortion rules in force in Poland since 1993 have been changed as a result of the Constitutional Court ruling of October 2020. Previously, the Law on Family Planning, Protection of the Human Fetus and Conditions for the Permissibility of Termination of Pregnancy, known as the so-called abortion compromise, which also makes abortion possible in the case of severe and irreversible fetal impairment or an incurable disease that threatens the life of the fetus. This ground for termination of pregnancy was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, causing a wave of protests across the country. This provision expired with the publication of the Constitutional Court ruling in January 2021.
Under current regulations, abortion is legal in two cases: pregnancy as a result of rape and when the woman’s life or health is in danger. The third condition for the legality of abortion – when prenatal tests reveal a high probability of serious and irreversible damage to the fetus – was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in October 2022.
Last November Two left-wing projects regarding the liberalization of abortion regulations were submitted to the Sejm. One of them partially decriminalizes abortion and its assistance, the other allows termination of pregnancy until the end of the twelfth week of its duration.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce