In Poland, the draft abortion law presented in March (see Poland: a draft bill to restrict abortion) was presented to Parliament on Tuesday following the collection of 450,000 signatures in support of the bill (100,000 signatures are required to present a bill to Parliament). A 1993 law currently authorises abortion in three cases in Poland: when the mother’s life and health are at risk, when an antenatal examination reveals a serious and irreversible disease in the embryo and in the case of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
According to the bill presented, abortion should only be authorised in the first instance. Anyone practising abortion could face a prison sentence ranging from three months to five years. Finally, the bill commends the State and local institutions to provide financial aid to women and families to raise disabled children.
The Polish Lower House of Parliament has three months to set the date of the last reading of the bill, “if it decides to review it,” which is highly likely.
AFP (5/07/2016)