Promise soon kept?

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Wednesday January 24, in accordance with his electoral promises, that he was ready to table in Parliament a bill liberalizing abortion in this country where the right to abortion is among the most restrictions in Europe.

The new Polish government already approved on Wednesday a bill opening free access to the “morning after pill”.

Both medical procedures had been strictly limited by the previous nationalist populist government.

The Civic Coalition (KO), which is the centrist party led by Donald Tusk, is "ready to table in the coming hours" a text authorizing "legal and safe abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy", declared the Prime Minister. minister during a press conference.

Read alsoThe return of Donald Tusk to Poland: “A peaceful dialogue will be able to open with Brussels”

In Poland, a country with a strong Catholic tradition, abortion is only authorized in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger.

In 2020, the Constitutional Court sided with the populist-nationalist government of the time by declaring terminations of pregnancies for fetal malformation “unconstitutional.”

Poland condemned for “violation of the right to respect for private life”

In December, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Poland for "violation of the right to respect for private life" after a young woman was prevented from accessing an abortion based on "the existence of fetal anomalies.

The Left, a member party of the victorious government coalition in last October's elections, has since tabled in Parliament, in its own name, two legislative proposals aimed, firstly, at decriminalizing assistance with abortion and, secondly, at liberalizing abortion in Poland.

A second member of the government coalition, the Third Way (Christian Democrat), is opposed to the idea of ​​such extensive liberalization of the right to abortion.

This group, made up of the Poland 2050 party of the president of the lower house of Parliament, Szymon Holownia, and the PSL peasant party, proposes "the return of the old law" of 1993 which provided for a very limited right to abortion.

Read alsoAbortion, media, EU: Donald Tusk’s projects

Since taking power, the new pro-European coalition has already restored public funding for in vitro fertilization.

The government as a whole also approved on Wednesday a bill opening free access to the "morning after pill", "from the age of 15".

“The issue has been finalized, the bill will be sent to parliament,” declared Donald Tusk after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

According to this text, the morning-after pill will be “accessible without a prescription”, he assured.

Only 161 legal abortions performed in 2022

Medical prescription will remain necessary for those under 15, as was the case before the restrictions introduced in 2017 by the populist nationalist power and endorsed by President Andrzej Duda who came from it, still in office.

"I don't want to go into details, but it only takes a little imagination to realize how this contraceptive medication works. Time plays an essential role here and the fact that a prescription was necessary was very often meant that, in many places in Poland, emergency contraception was de facto not available to those affected,” explained Donald Tusk.

“This is a great moment for all of us! We are giving women back the right to decide for themselves,” the Ministry of Health said on X.

In 2022, only 161 legal abortions were carried out, compared to around 2,000 before the law was tightened in 2020. According to feminist organizations, 100,000 women terminate their pregnancies each year by using abortion pills, banned in Poland, or by leaving abroad.

In March 2023, a Polish activist, Justyna Wydrzynska, was sentenced by a Warsaw court to community service for contributing to an abortion, an unprecedented case in Poland.

His case is currently being examined by a second instance court.

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application