Polish Parliament Overwhelmingly Gives Initial Approval to Bill Banning All Abortions

Natalia Dueholm : Sep 26, 2016
LifeSiteNews.com

The new law would give legal protection to all children from the moment of conception, thereby outlawing all abortions in Poland.

(Warsaw, Poland)—[LifeSiteNews] The lower house of Parliament voted Friday to reject a "Save Women" bill proposing abortion on demand and continue the legislative process on a "Stop Abortion" measure that could result in a total ban on abortion in Poland. (Photo via LifeSiteNews.com)

Several bills were introduced in Parliament on Thursday. Members of Parliament heard the reading of three bills—the first banning abortion, the second allowing abortion on demand until the third month of gestation, and the third defining an embryo as a child in the earliest phase of development (in relation to in vitro fertilization).
 
The "Stop Abortion" bill passed by a majority of 267-154 in parliament. It will move on to commissioners for deliberation before a final draft of the bill is written and voted upon. The wide margin is seen as a sign that the final bill will pass.
 
The "Save Women" proposal, presented by abortion advocates and which sought inclusions for the health of the mother and fetal deformity up to 24 weeks, was defeated 230-173.
 
Since 1993, abortion in Poland has been illegal except in three circumstances—when the woman's life or health is endangered, when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, and when a doctor believes the baby has a severe and irreversible handicap or an incurable and life-threatening disease. Some politicians consider this law a compromise that should be left untouched.
 
"Abortion is the massacre of innocent children, Hell for women and a moral disgrace for men," said Joanna Banasiuk, a lawyer from the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture that introduced the bill to the members of Parliament.
 
The proposed ban on abortion is the work of a grass-roots movement and, contrary to what has been reported in the foreign press, was started neither by the Catholic Church nor by the government. The Polish democratic system enables a group of citizens to initiate a legislative procedure (a bill) in the lower chamber of the Parliament by gathering 100,000 signatures. The citizens' initiative on abortion received more than 450,000 signatures. A few organizations are behind this legal proposition, including the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture and The Right to Life Foundation.
 
The new law would give legal protection to all children from the moment of conception, thereby outlawing all abortions in Poland. The bill specifically states that the doctor who causes an unborn child's death trying to save women's lives will not be punished.

The focus of the proposed law is not punishing women who do have abortions; in fact, it leaves that to the discretion of judges. Instead, it increases punishment for abortionists and others who harm pregnant women and force them to abort by ruse or threat. What's more, it also discusses the state's responsibility in helping parents of handicapped or special-needs...
 
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