Protests force Polish MPs to turn backs on proposal to outlaw abortion

A proposal for a total ban on abortion has been rejected by Polish MPs. The move, which would have added further limits to what is already one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws, was defeated by 352 votes to 58 in the country’s parliament on Thursday. Defeat was assured when members of the ruling right-wing party turned against the idea having originally supported it. They were forced to change tack after tens of thousands of women joined protest marches. But Mariusz Dzierzawski, from the Stop Abortion committee, accused the ruling party leadership of hypocrisy for turning its back on his group’s proposal.

Abortion will certainly not be banned when the woman is the victim of rape or if her life or her health is in danger

Deputy prime minister Jaroslaw Gowin

The proposal for further tightening the law came from a citizens’ initiative that gathered some 450,000 signatures. While supported by some conservative Catholics, it was highly unpopular with most Poles, with people balking at the idea that a teenage rape victim should be forced to have her baby. The proposal had also called for prison terms of up to five years for women who sought abortions. “PiS continues to back the protection of life,” ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told parliament. “And it will continue to take action in this respect but it will be considered action.”