On April 11, there was a several-hour debate in the Sejm about 4 abortion liberalization projects. The vote on these projects was scheduled for Friday.
In the Sejm, there was a debate on 4 draft laws amending existing abortion laws. 2 by fresh Left (one decriminizes abortion, the another introduces legal abortion by Week 12). The 3rd Civic Coalition, which wants a bill “on conscious parenthood” and the 3rd Way – a return to the 1993 alleged abortion compromise. The vote on the projects will take place on Friday after 2 p.m.
In the plenary area of the Sejm, projects were presented according to the order given by the marshall staff. Anna Maria Żukowska of the Left presented a task on depenalization of abortion, stressing that it was the decision of women concerning their body. She lamented the harsh penalties they threatened for helping carry out abortion in Poland, calling it a scandal.
Żukowska added that “older men in suits will not tell women what to do with themselves”. She stressed that the Left presented a draft decriminalisation of abortion, stressing that abortions always existed and would exist. In her opinion, all women, regardless of their spiritual beliefs, should have the right to abortion due to the fact that “we have pluralism in Poland”.
A second speech by the Left, entitled as a bill “on safe abortion”, was presented by Catherine Kotula, Minister for Equality. This task assumes legalization of abortion by 12 weeks of pregnancy without the request for a cause.
"It is easy to have relics in Polish hospitals today, but it is hard to have abortions, even those that are compatible with the applicable law," Kotula said. Addressing another politicians, she recalled that “women have spent all these years working out how to halt their pregnancy. The conscience of the politicians was inactive calm, but is your conscience calm now that women are inactive forced to confound themselves? Does it come to your conscience present that if a female wants to be pregnant, she will do anything to be in her, but if she does not want to be in her, she will besides do everything to not be in her?"
The MP from the Left stressed that the fact of abortion cannot now be ignored due to the fact that they were, are and will be. She pointed out that the state should take action to guarantee that abortion is safe, easy accessible, legal and carried out under appropriate conditions.
Agnieszka Buczyńska, Minister of civilian Society, presented a draft amendment to the household Planning Act, the protection of human fetuses and the conditions for abortion proposed by the 3rd Road (Poland 2050-PSL). This task aims to reconstruct the legal position prior to the 2020 Constitutional Court judgment, which it considered to be unconstitutional the alleged eugenic premise. According to the task presented, abortion would be permitted if: pregnancy would pose a threat to the life or wellness of a pregnant woman, prenatal examinations or another medical conditions would indicate a advanced probability of severe and irreversible foetal impairment or incurable life-threatening disease, and thirdly, if there were a reasonable suspicion that pregnancy was caused by a prohibited act.
– The bill proposed by us is 1 of 3 elements of a comprehensive proposal for Poles and Poles – she said. As she explained, the first 1 was a reimbursement of contraceptives, and her club submitted a task to the Sejm. “Today we are besides presenting a bill that reverses this scandalous judgement of the Constitutional Tribunal, but besides extends its scope. First, the anticipation of abortion should be assuredly restored due to foetal defects. No more forcing women into heroism. No more fear of getting pregnant. We will take care of women after rapes – the prosecutor will have 3 days to state the forbidden act on the basis of the victim's statement. If a woman's pregnancy due to her intellectual wellness threatens the wellness or life of a woman, this is besides a legitimate reason to remove her pregnancy. The removal of pregnancy will be possible both in and outside the medical facility, e.g. through a tablet," she said.
The 3rd Road MP stressed that the 3rd crucial aspect was the referendum. She pointed out that over 66% of Poles and Poles advocate this solution, which is effective and which the president should adapt to. She argued that the referendum guarantees peace, as it is the decision of the citizens that matters most.
Monika Wielichowska, Deputy talker of the Sejm, presented a Citizen Coalition task entitled ‘about conscious parenting’, which provides that ‘every pregnant individual has the right to receive wellness benefits in the form of abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy’. After this word abortion would only be possible if the life or wellness of a pregnant individual is at hazard and if there is simply a advanced likelihood of serious and irreversible foetal defects or an incurable life-threatening illness and if pregnancy is the consequence of a prohibited act.
According to the premise regarding the probability of serious and irreversible defects, abortion would be possible until week 24 of pregnancy. On the another hand, if the illness or defect detected prevents the kid from surviving on his own and was not able to heal it, abortion would be permitted without limitation.
Wielichowska stressed that women in Poland are inactive forced to usage the abortion underground due to decisions of politicians limiting their freedom. “We are tired of proceeding your views. Leave us, our consciences and our decisions alone. Don't get in our shoes. Abortion is not a world-view issue. We are talking about women's rights, and they are not negotiated, and they are not subject to a referendum," added Ms KO.
In the parliamentary debate there was the Minister of Health, Katarzyna Sójka of the PiS Party, who accused the initiators of all projects of replacing the real problems of citizens with the issue of abortion, which she felt was not unanimous. "This fuel is not adequate for long, due to the fact that there are many more problems and needs in wellness care," she stressed. She besides referred to the debate on the availability of the ‘day after’ pill, claiming that abortion supporters do not have the right to talk on behalf of all women due to the fact that many of them do not share specified demands.
Katarzyna Sójka powerfully criticised the unilateral nature of the debate, in which the environments supporting the right to abortion focus mainly on the right to abortion, disregarding statements on the possible consequences of specified a decision. She noted the deficiency of proposals to support women who decide to have a kid with disabilities, the deficiency of memory of the request for infirmary support and the deficiency of changes in the adoption law for children abandoned by parents.
She stressed that not all women want to drop the problem by interrupting pregnancy: “They just want to have a baby, but they request support, which you don’t see at all in your projects. All household care and all benefits – this is irrelevant to you. I have the impression that all these projects offer only to get free of the problem with 1 tablet and from your side is over," said Katarzyna Sójka.
Józefa Szczurek-Żelazko, a PiS MP, besides discussed the request for perinatal medicine: “We know that many treatments are carried out in fetal life. They save the life of this kid and avoid disability. Many wellness problems of the conceived kid modern medicine is able to solve. The government should proceed these projects, supporting families with disabled children and access to wellness benefits," she said.
On behalf of the PiS club, the MP requested the rejection of 3 of the 4 abortion projects that were notified by Lewica and KO. However, the club did not decide to introduce voting discipline for the 3rd Way project.
The governing coalition clubs plan to support the redirection of the projects to the second reading in the emergency committee, in which 27 Members will sit. The issue of the 3rd Way remains: PSL announces that each associate will vote according to his own conscience. On the another hand, the Confederation is in favour of rejecting all 4 projects.
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Source: KAI
