Polish lawmakers debate easing near-total abortion ban

Poland's parliament on Thursday debated liberalising abortion laws in the majority Catholic country, with splits in the ruling coalition suggesting an uncertain outcome.

Women's rights were rolled back during the eight-year rule of the previous right-wing government, with the tightening of already strict abortion laws sparking mass rallies.

The country of 38 million people has some of Europe's strictest abortion laws, allowing the procedure only if pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, or if it threatens the life or health of the mother.

But a moderate coalition came to power in October on a pledge to legalise abortion, with all three groups in the alliance submitting bills to grant more reproductive rights.

"The state can't pretend that abortion doesn't exist -- they're being done, always have and always will," Equality Minister Katarzyna Kotula told parliament.

"The state must do everything to ensure that abortion is safe, accessible, legal and takes place in appropriate conditions," she added.

Katarzyna Ueberhan, a lawmaker from the Left junior coalition member, held up a pack of abortion pills in parliament and said she had used them to terminate a pregnancy.

Debate started with a bill to legalise abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy, submitted by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition, and three other proposals by its partners.

But some coalition lawmakers are reluctant to back the legislation in a vote scheduled for Friday.

And even if parliament approves reforms, President Andrzej Duda, a conservative Catholic ally of the opposition conservative PiS party, is unlikely to sign them into law.

The coalition does not have the required three-fifths majority to overturn a presidential veto. And in case of a standoff, Tusk's coalition may have to wait until presidential elections next year, hoping for Duda's ouster by a liberal candidate.

- First hurdle -

Tusk, a former EU chief and an arch-foe of the PiS party previously in power, said he hoped the coalition would back the legislation. "There are many indications that this will be the case," Tusk said Tuesday.

But the conservative PSL farmers party, part of the Third Way junior coalition group, has expressed reluctance at easing abortion restrictions. Some lawmakers said they will not back the bills.

"I will vote against," the PSL's Marek Sawicki told TOK FM radio. He did not say how many others would follow suit.

Tusk's coalition controls 248 of the 460 seats in parliament's lower chamber, with the PSL holding 32 seats. A majority requires 231 votes.

- Presidential obstacle -

Abortion assistance is also outlawed in Poland, with activists and doctors who help with the procedure risking jail.

Last year, an activist, Justyna Wydrzynska, was found guilty of providing a pregnant woman with abortion pills, the first such case in the country. She was sentenced to community service.

Ahead of the debate, Wydrzynska joined other activists in calling for "accessible and legal abortion".

"We just want every woman who needs an abortion to be able to do so," Wydrzynska told reporters.

Polish anti-abortion groups have also closed ranks against the reforms, organising a Catholic mass and a rally "to defend life" outside parliament Thursday.

Hundreds attended the rally, where they chanted prayers and held up signs with slogans such as "abortion kills".

The head of Poland's Catholic church issued a statement urging "all people of good will to care for the lives of unborn children and their mothers," denouncing what he called "pro-abortion propaganda".

According to an opinion poll by Ipsos, 35 percent of Poles are in favour of allowing abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy, while 14 percent said they would keep the current rules.

Twenty-three percent want a referendum on liberalising the abortion law, a solution backed by Third Way but strongly criticised by women's rights campaigners.

But getting any new legislation past Duda, the PiS ally, will be a challenge.

Last month, Duda vetoed legislation on prescription-free emergency contraception for girls and women aged 15 and over. The government has said it will bypass the veto by allowing pharmacists to provide morning-after pills.

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