Donald Tusk's government will present a corresponding bill. Access to the “morning-after pill” should also be facilitated.
According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Poland's new government will soon present a bill to liberalize the right to abortion. She “will present to parliament a bill for legal and safe abortions up to the twelfth week of pregnancy,” Tusk told reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Polish abortion law is so far more restrictive than anywhere else in Europe. Currently, abortions are only permitted in cases of rape or incest or if the mother's life is in danger.
Free access to the morning after pill
The government also wants to make access to the “morning-after pill” much easier. The right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which governed until Tusk took office in December, introduced a prescription requirement for the morning-after pill in 2017. The hormonal preparation with the active ingredient levonogestrel, which is taken within twelve hours after sexual intercourse, it is used to suppress ovulation and thus prevent unwanted pregnancy. It is not the same as the abortion pill (active ingredient mifepristone, trade name Mifegyne).
The left-wing liberal and pro-European camp had already promised during the election campaign to liberalize the right to abortion. After the electoral victory in October, Tusk and its coalition partners included the planned reform in their coalition agreement. According to Tusk, the bill to facilitate access to the morning-after pill provides for access without a prescription from the age of 15.
After approval by parliament, Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is close to the PiS party, has yet to put the new laws into force. (APA/AFP)