All groups seeking to change the abortion law this year have endorsed the referendum, and the president cannot veto the result, according to Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia who shared the remark on social media.
President Andrzej Duda, questioned during a Tuesday interview on Polsat News about the possibility of liberalizing abortion rules, stated that abortion equals the taking of human life and that anyone demanding an abortion effectively seeks a right to kill.
Currently, the law allows a pregnancy termination when the life of the woman is at risk. In that scenario, the safety of the woman is safeguarded.
He added that there should not be a referendum on life and death issues. He did not specify whether he would consider the referendum outcome if it were held. Asked about the morning-after pill, he said he would review the amendment but would not sign a law that introduces unhealthy and dangerous regulations for children. He described the morning-after pill, accessible without a prescription for minors, as a gross exaggeration.
On Wednesday, Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia commented on these statements via social media.
The president’s stance on the morning-after pill leaves little room for doubt: he would veto any liberalization of rights that originates from this Sejm. All who want to change the abortion law this year support the referendum. The president cannot veto the outcome. This is a prerogative we hold,” wrote the Marshal of the Sejm on platform X.
The amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law, approved by the Senate last week, would allow access to one of the hormonal contraceptives, ulipristal acetate, for individuals over 15. The accompanying tablet (ellaOne) can be taken up to 120 hours after intercourse. Since July 2017, morning-after pills in Poland have been available only by prescription. The proposals under consideration aim to repeal this provision.
Projects about abortion
Regarding the liberalization of abortion rules, two bills were submitted by the left in November of the previous year. One would partially decriminalize abortion and its assistance, while another would permit termination up to the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy.
At the end of January this year, a proposal from a group of MPs within the Civic Coalition was presented to the Sejm. It assumes a pregnant person is entitled to health care that includes termination of pregnancy during the first twelve weeks.
Alongside these efforts, Trzecia Droga (a coalition of PSL and Polska 2050) introduced a bill at the Sejm in late February that seeks to overturn the Constitutional Court’s 2020 ruling on abortion regulations. TD members also advocate holding a referendum on abortion.
Poland’s anti-abortion framework, in place since 1993, was revised after the Constitutional Court’s 2020 ruling. Previously, the Law on Family Planning, Protection of the Human Fetus and Conditions for the Permissibility of Termination of Pregnancy, known as the Abortion Compromise, allowed abortion in cases of severe fetal impairment or an incurable disease threatening the pregnant person’s life. The Constitutional Tribunal deemed that basis for termination unconstitutional, triggering widespread protests across the country.
tkwl/PAP/X
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Source: wPolityce