Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty said MPs from the left will meet the president on Tuesday to discuss the law on the morning-after pill. He emphasized that this would be an opportunity to present arguments to Andrzej Duda and “fight on this issue.”
The amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law, which provides for the availability of the morning-after pill without a prescription for people over 15 years of age, was adopted by the Senate without amendments on March 6; currently awaiting the president’s decision.
“Last chance”
New Left co-chairman Włodzimierz Czarzasty said on TVN24 on Monday evening that MPs from the left will meet with President Duda on Tuesday to discuss the ‘morning after’ pill. As he noted, “this will be the last or one of the last, given the deadlines and the opportunity for the president to make arguments and fight on this issue.”
We will enter the den of every anti-abortion lion’s den
– the politician also said.
Czarzasty said his group is very interested in ensuring that the availability of the morning-after pill is governed by law, not regulation.
The law is about stability. The arrangement can always be withdrawn
– he emphasized.
The amendment to the pharmaceutical law, which provides for the availability of one of the hormonal contraceptives – ulipristal acetate – for people over 15 years of age, was passed by the Senate without amendments on March 6. The law was sent to the president, who has 21 days to sign the law, veto it or refer it to the Constitutional Court.
In mid-March, Andrzej Duda announced that he would not sign the bill “which introduces unhealthy, sick and dangerous rules for children.” According to him, the ‘morning after’ pill, which is available without a prescription for minors, is ‘a gross exaggeration’. According to the president, the pill should still be available by prescription, and in the case of girls, taking it should be a “parental decision.”
Override veto?
Last week, Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna announced that if the president does not sign the law on the morning-after pill, “there will be a regulation” regulating the issue. She added that this would be regulation for pharmacists.
The tablet will be available from May 1
– she stated.
The so-called morning-after pills have only been available on prescription in Poland since July 2017. It is an emergency contraception used after unprotected intercourse or when other methods of contraception prove insufficient. It prevents fertilization by blocking or delaying ovulation. It does not terminate an existing pregnancy.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce