In 2020 Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, which is currently composed of 15 judges all elected by the PiS Sejm, scrapped a law allowing abortion in the cases of fetal anomalies or defects.
The change put a stop to approximately 90% of the roughly 1,000 annual abortions that took place in the country, according to research conducted in 2021 and 2022 by the Polish news source Notes from Poland.
Meuwissen told CNA that “most Poles were apparently not happy with the Constitutional Court ruling of 2020 on abortion,” which, he said, “partly explains the high turnout.”
The Civic Coalition, Left Party, and Third Way, meanwhile, have promised to introduce legislation to legalize abortion.
OKO Press, a Polish news source, reported that the Civic Coalition has promised to legalize abortion until 12 weeks of pregnancy.
According to reporting by the Guardian, Tusk said in the spring that “abortion is a woman’s decision, not a priest’s, prosecutor’s, policeman’s, or party activist’s.“
Tusk promised to make the legalization of abortion a priority, saying: “We will be ready to propose it to the Sejm on the first day after the next parliamentary elections.”
The Left Party, for its part, promises to “introduce the right to terminate pregnancy until the 12th week” and “after the 12th week of pregnancy” in the event “of a threat to the life or health of the woman or severe fetal defects.”
The Third Way has also promised to consider expanding abortion rights. On its website, the Third Way promises to call a referendum within the first 100 days of the new government to decide the question of “restoring the legal status on the possibility of terminating pregnancy.”
Beyond legalizing abortion until 12 weeks, Meuwissen believes the new government will try to expand abortion by extending the “health of the mother” exception currently in force to include the “mental health of the mother.”
This “could be a significant first step,” Meuwissen said, toward abortion on demand in Poland.
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As for the fetal anomaly exception, Meuwissen said the new government “will certainly not be able to overturn the [2020] ruling reminding that eugenic abortions are unconstitutional, given its lack of a constitutional majority.”
Poland, which is 85% Catholic, has clashed with the European Union (EU) in recent years because of the country’s pro-life laws, rejection of LGBTQ+ ideology, and strict anti-immigration policies.
Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.