Polish parliament takes step toward legalizing abortion

It is a historic vote, but only the first step on a road that is undoubtedly still long and full of pitfalls. On Friday, April 12, the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, voted on the first reading of four bills legalizing the right to abortion, before sending copies for further work to a special parliamentary committee. For the first time since the adoption of the Polish Constitution in 1996, texts along these lines have passed their first reading by MPs.

The four bills were all introduced by members of the pro-European coalition that came to power following the October 15, 2023 elections, after eight years of governance by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS). The first two pieces of legislation, put forward by the United Left, provide for the decriminalization of abortion assistance and the full legalization of abortion, without hindrance, up to the 12^th week of pregnancy. The third, submitted by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Liberal Civic Coalition, also envisages legalization up to the 12^th week, albeit with certain constraints not included in the United Left’s draft.

The fourth, coming from the Third Way, an alliance of the conservative Polish People’s Party (PSL) and the Christian democrat movement “Poland 2050” of Sejm President Szymon Holownia, advocates for a return to the “compromise” in force between 1993 and 2020 , which authorized abortion in only three cases: malformation of the fetus, danger to the life or health of the mother or when the pregnancy results from rape or incest. The Third Way is also in favor of a referendum on the possible wider legalization of abortion – an option criticized by feminist organizations.

Tensions in the ruling coalition

In 2020, the PiS-controlled Constitutional Court declared that abortion on the grounds of fetal malformation (a criterion that accounted for over 90% of interventions at the time) was not in line with the Polish Constitution, making abortion virtually illegal. The decision sparked unprecedented protests across the country and the women’s vote in the last parliamentary elections proved decisive in the fall with the victory of the democratic coalition.

Friday’s vote on the four bills was far from a foregone conclusion, as the issue of abortion is one of the main divisions within the ruling coalition. In recent weeks, tensions between representatives of the United Left and the Third Way have reached proportions that have caused great concern in the democratic camp. Six months after the elections, the vote was a real test of unity, the failure of which would have led to a serious government crisis. The agreement stipulated mutual support, with the aim of a future debate in committee between the more conservative Third Way project and the more liberal left-wing ones. But until the last minute on Friday, the vote of some MPs from the PSL peasant party was not guaranteed.

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