Poland has dropped plans to further tighten its strict abortion laws, after months of street protests and a strike on Monday drew tens of thousands of women onto the streets of Warsaw.
In a free vote in the lower house, the Sejm, MPs backed by 352-58 a motion to dismiss a proposal that would have effectively outlawed abortion.
“Observing the social developments, we have come to a conclusion that this legislation will have an opposite effect to the one that was intended,” said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
On Monday, women from all over the country skipped work and donned black to attend a gathering in the Polish capital protesting against the proposed changes – until recently backed by Mr Kaczynski and prime minister Beata Szydlo.
Following the protests, the proposed Bill was dismissed at committee stage.
Poland’s influential Catholic bishops were initially supportive of the Bill but said they could not support one of its proposals, to jail women who had an abortion.
The dismissal prompted an angry response from vocal pro-life campaigners in Poland who collected 200,000 signatures – twice the number required – to bring their Bill to parliament.
What happened
“What has happened in the last 14 days that you decided to go from protecting human life from the moment of conception to this?” Joanna Banasiuk, a leader with pro-life group Ordo Iuris, asked of the government.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the government agreed with the legislation’s intent but not the version brought to parliament by an anti-abortion group.
Government officials said they were considering future changes to abortion laws but that, for now, it would the status quo from 1993 in place.
This allows abortion only in cases of incest, rape and nonviable foetuses, or when the mother’s life is threatened.
However, many Polish women entitled to a legal abortion complain of difficulty finding a doctor prepared to carry out the procedure.
Officially up to 1,800 legal abortions are performed in Poland annually. But when backstreet and foreign terminations are included, women’s groups say the true abortion figure may be as high as 150,000.
Protect life
After the Bill was defeated in parliament, prime minister Ms Szydlo said her government’s duty was to protect human life from the moment of conception.
She promised a new pro-life education by year’s end, in addition to assistance for families with disabled children and for women who give birth to children with genetic disorders.
