Poland’s parliament is finally holding a long-awaited debate on liberalising the country’s strict abortion law. The traditionally Catholic nation has one of the most restrictive laws in Europe — but the reality is that many women terminate pregnancies at home with pills mailed from abroad.
Currently, abortion is regulated by a 1993 law, which was heavily influenced by the Catholic church, and further restricted following a 2020 constitutional court ruling preventing abortion in case of foetal abnormalities. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who came to power in December after eight years of a conservative government, has vowed to legalise abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy. He has said the decision is a woman’s to make, not that of “a priest, a prosecutor or a party official”. Marta Lempart, the head of Women’s Strike, attends a protest against the verdict restricting abortion rights in Warsaw, Poland (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)But conservatives in the Town’s three-party governing coalition pushed to keep the hot-button issue off the agenda until last weekend’s local elections were over.Surveys show public support for a more liberal law, but those fighting for the status quo have also mobilised, with an anti-abortion group planning a march through central Warsaw on Thursday afternoon as the debate is under wa