The new Polish majority is addressing the issue of abortion. Voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) became illegal when the ultranationalists and conservatives of PiS came to power, but the legislature elected last month already wants to change things. And the left party hopes that abortion will become legal again as soon as possible.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw, Martin Chabal
It was not even necessary to wait for the second session of the new parliament for the subject of abortion to animate the debates. The left has proposed two bills.
The first to make abortion legal up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, as is the case in Germany for example. This is one of the priorities of the left party which has been campaigning for it since PiS restricted access to abortion. The other on the decriminalization of assistance with an abortion. Poles have in mind the highly publicized trial of Justyna Wydrzyńska, found guilty of sending an abortion pill to a woman in distress.
But although these proposals come from the new majority, for the moment there is no indication that they will be adopted by the deputies. Within the new ruling coalition, the Third Way Christian Democrats are not really in favor of legalizing abortion. Some are simply against the authorization of abortion up to 12 weeks, others rather support the idea of a referendum on the issue.
These first debates could therefore reveal the first flaws in this grand coalition whose majority in parliament could hang by a thread.