Until the next elections, there will not be a majority in this parliament in favor of legal abortion, in the full sense of the word. There is no point in cheating.. However, there will be a completely different practice in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and in Polish hospitals. This is already underway and will be very noticeable. – said Tusk during the Poland Campus of the Future in Kortów, Olsztyn.
Tusk: We don’t have a majority
During Friday’s event, the head of government was asked about the issue of abortion, in the context of the fact that in mid-July, there were only a few votes left to approve an amendment to the Penal Code that partially decriminalized abortion care.
We do not have a majority in parliament on this matter. At the moment, especially the KO deputies are saying: let’s try to vote again. The problem is this: I always try to be practical, in the sense that when we agree on something, I would like it to be carried out to the end. The reality is that Giertych did not vote, Sługocki was in the United States, we were two votes short, but in fact we were many votes short. – he pointed.
I want to tell you something that is sad to me, but it is a fact that we cannot avoid: The Polish Sejm does not have a majority in favor of the right to legal abortion, which we have discussed here and which is supported here, among other things. We agree with you. There is simply no majority. – said Tusk.
I can only promise that, within the framework of existing legislation, we will do everything we can to ensure that women suffer less.make abortion as safe as possible and available when a woman has to make that decision. So that people who are involved in helping women are not prosecuted – he assured.
Tusk: We will not force a referendum
Tusk added that “Unfortunately, we have to wait for the law to change, I have no illusions about that.“The prime minister did not rule out attempts to convince the PSL “to adopt some mild version” of the changes.
The head of government also highlighted that Members of the Popular Party want to hold a referendum on the abortion law. But as you know, with regard to the referendum, most communities, especially women’s groups who have been involved in the fight for the right to legal abortion, say: we don’t want any referendum, these are our rights, we will not vote for it in the referendum. So I will not propose a referendum against all the victims of this provision today, if they don’t want it, we will not force this referendum. – said Tusk.
Trzaskowski: After the change of president, there will be no excuses
Deputy Head of PO Rafał Trzaskowski, on the other hand, expressed his conviction that if we manage to change the president, “the pressure will be very great and there is a possibility that what is most important will change, namely the entire political situation.”.
Then there will be no excusesthen perhaps it will be easier to convince our colleagues from other parties that currently form the government to agree to some solution. Perhaps unsatisfactory for all of us, but a solution that will certainly change today’s unacceptable situation. – said Trzaskowski.
Non-adoption of the amendment to the abortion law
In mid-July The Sejm did not adopt the amendment to the Criminal Code, authored by the left, concerning the partial decriminalization of abortion.. It assumed the repeal of two provisions of art. 152 of the Penal Code, which provides for a sentence of 3 years in prison for anyone who terminates a pregnancy in cases not permitted by law, as well as inciting others to do so. It also introduced penalties of restriction of liberty or imprisonment of up to 5 years in the case of abortion when the pregnancy lasts more than 12 weeks. It decriminalized abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy in cases of serious fetal defects that threaten the life and health of the woman.
215 deputies voted in favor of approving the amendment to the Penal Code. There were 218 votes against and two abstentions.. Of the 29 voters from the PSL-Trzecia Droga club, only four were in favor of approving the bill. Last week, the draft version voted on July 12, signed by the entire Left club, some deputies from the KO club, one deputy from the PSL-TD and four deputies from the Polska 2050-TD club, was resubmitted to the Sejm.
Until 2020, termination of pregnancy in Poland was possible in three cases: when the pregnancy threatened the life or health of the woman, when it was the result of a prohibited act (e.g. rape or incest) or there was a justified suspicion of serious and irreversible fetal defects. As of October 2020 The Constitutional Court questioned the third of these premises.
In the following months the public space was filled with, among other things, information about death of a 33-year-old patientwho died in the fifth month in the hospital in Nowy Targ. According to reports, the cause of death was sepsis, which developed in the woman’s body when doctors delayed the termination of the pregnancy and the removal of the dead fetus. This case sparked many protests across the country “Not one more”. The protesters then argued that the causes of the tragedy were, among others, draconian regulations that tie the hands of doctors.
