In 2020, women across Poland protested against TK judgement // Wikimedia CommonsOne of the most crucial challenges facing the ruling camp is to regulate the right to abortion. However, the opinions among the coalitions stay divided, with further obstacles emerging on the way to success and no compromise has yet taken place. The announcement of the legal anticipation of carrying out this procedure in certain cases is included in the list of 100 circumstantial KOs for the first 100 days of government. This is 1 of the most crucial demands for many Poles.
The tightening of abortion law in 2020, despite the passing of years, continues to inspire quite a few emotion in society. Currently, abortion in our country is only legal in 2 cases – as a consequence of a prohibited act and in a situation of danger to the wellness or life of a woman. Earlier there was besides a 3rd condition, the most common origin of abortion – the occurrence of irreversible severe malformations of the congenital fetus. However, this judgement of the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal was declared illegal. The sentences are divided, but the numbers talk for themselves – hundreds of thousands of people dissatisfied with this decision gathered in protests organized throughout Poland despite the pandemic. According to the latest IPSOS polls, over half of Poles – 57% – support the anticipation of performing the procedure without giving a reason, and in peculiar situations the support is even higher and reaches above 70%. The fresh government has promised women a choice and legal abortion by 12 weeks of pregnancy, but getting along in the coalition is more hard than it might seem.
Four Ideas
W The Sejm looks forward to considering together as many as 4 draft abortion laws. 2 of them were submitted by the Left in November. The first assumes the anticipation of a legal and safe abortion "on demand" up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and in specified cases even later. The second proposed amendment involves repealing the paragraph in the Criminal Code on imprisonment for abortion or aid with abortion. In January, KO submitted a draft bill in accordance with 100 concrete assumptions on the right to a decision on safe abortion until 12 weeks (in circumstantial cases abortions may besides be possible later). Abortion would be performed in NFZ hospitals, which will no longer be able to invoke a conscience clause. The 3rd Road proposes another script – it resigns from liberalisation of abortion law, and only reverses the 2020 conviction of the Constitutional Tribunal.
Third road to nowhere?
In Parliament, the issue of abortion is inactive at issue. No 1 should be amazed at the opposition of the right-wing groups – PiS – and the Confederation to the liberalisation of this law, but the grievances in this subject besides appeared in the governing coalition. Despite the theoretical common position contained in the coalition agreement, the agreement inactive has not been reached.
The 3rd Way argues with its scepticism about the liberalisation of abortion law primarily “realism” – it recalls that with the governments of the current president there is no chance of anything more than a return to “compromise”. They have their own thought – according to Marshal Szymon Holownia, the best option would be to hold a referendum in which he would ask Poles for their opinion. However, as Prime Minister Donald Tusk notes, this is not a good solution. A referendum on specified an issue would be more formally a poll – it would have no binding force, as the change would should be voted in the Sejm and signed by the president anyway. In society, this thought is besides controversial – among another things, Amnesty global advocates that the right to abortion is simply a human right and should be ensured by the state in a democratic country without having to hold a referendum. So more critical voices are emerging. In both the media and social networks, 3rd Way's plans are referred to as "a smokescreen" to obscure the actual views of any politicians on liberalisation. In addition, it besides cites the advanced cost of holding another referendum, which is not necessary. The most unfavorable voices item the hazard of utilizing the vote to manipulate public opinion on abortion and accuse politicians of throwing work for the effects of the Constitutional Tribunal judgement on society.
Abortion law is 1 of the first issues in which we see a clear division in the ruling coalition. The hazard of not signing the bill by president Andrzej Duda is besides a clear obstacle regardless of the kind of changes introduced. Fears are besides raised by the continuous postponement of abortion laws by Marshal Holovnia. Both politicians and journalists, as well as many citizens, criticized the issue on social media. There were no deficiency of votes about a political game related to women's rights, as well as the explanation that the vote would be postponed again, this time after the parliamentary elections.
GARCHIAN OIL
