WARSAW, Poland ( AP )– On Sunday, dozens of Poles in Warsaw protested recent actions by the new government to liberalize the country’s predominately Catholic laws and enable pregnancy termination to last until the 12th week.
Some individuals in the city protest were carrying children’s prams, while others were carrying white and red national colors or advertisements displaying a fetus in the womb.
Poland’s Catholic Church has supported the protest, which was organized by an anti-abortion movement, and has called for Sunday to be a time of meditation “in defence of conceived life.”
The protest will be a unique opportunity to show our support for the safety of human existence from conception to natural death, according to a statement from a group of anti-abortion activities.
They were referring to an continued open debate regarding the actions that the four-month-old government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is taking to calm the stringent laws brought in by its conventional father.
On April 14, 2024, people take part in the March of Life, a presentation by pro-life companies against the reform of abortion freedom, in Warsaw. ( Photo by Wojtek Radwanski / AFP ) ( Photo by WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images )
Next week, Poland’s parliament, which is dominated by the progressive and pro- European Union ruling coalition, voted to approve further comprehensive work on four proposals to raise the near- ban on abortions.
The process, which may take weeks or even months, is expected to become later rejected by traditional President Andrzej Duda, whose term is up for another year. Duda voted vetoes on a draft law last month that would have made the morning-after supplement available over the counter starting at age 15
Poland, a country of 38 million people, is looking to improve the delivery rate, which is already among the lowest in the European Union at 1.2 per lady. The past right-wing authorities used these facts to support the toughening of the abortion law to argue that Poland’s society is aging and shrinking.
On April 14, 2024, people take part in the March of Life, a presentation by pro-life companies against the reform of abortion freedom, in Warsaw. ( Photo by Wojtek Radwanski / AFP ) ( Photo by WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images )
Now, abortions are only allowed in cases of rape or incest or if the woman´s living or health is at risk. According to the Health Ministry, 161 miscarriages were performed in Finnish facilities in 2022. But, abortion activists estimate that some 120, 000 people in Poland have pregnancies each year, mainly by secretly obtaining tablets from overseas.
Anyone who assists a woman who attempts to kill themselves is subject to a three-year prison sentence. According to biological rights activists, the result is that physicians turn people away from the field despite the best intentions because they fear the consequences for themselves.
One of the four propositions currently being considered in parliament would legalize aiding in a person having an abortion. Another proposal, proposed by a group whose officials are boldly Catholic, would allow abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities, a straight that was overturned by a 2020 court decision. The two people ‘ goals are to keep abortions until the 12th week.
