Women's rights groups protest Polish parliament's rejection of changes in abortion laws

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – Polish women's rights groups in Warsaw on Tuesday protested the parliament's rejection of a bill aimed at changing the country's restrictive abortion law.

Several women's groups organized the protest on the day of the final session of parliament, or Sejm, before the summer recess began.

On July 12, the lower house rejected the bill decriminalizing abortion, which stated that anyone who assisted a woman in terminating her pregnancy would not face prosecution, with 215 lawmakers voting in favor and 218 voting against.

The coalition government came to power promising reform of Poland’s restrictive and criminalizing abortion laws after last October’s parliamentary elections that saw Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party Civic Coalition (KO) cobble together a parliamentary majority with the pro-abortion Left party and the conservative Polish People’s Party (PSL), many of its MPs voted against the government-backed bill.

“I hope that this protest serves as a serious wake-up call to the government, which most likely does not appreciate the fact that we elected it,” Antonina Lewandowska of the women's group FEDERA said of the parliament decision in an interview with Polish news service Gazeta.pl.

"The PSL voted against abortion decriminalization in parliament. Thanks to them," Lewandowska remarked sarcastically, referring to conservative PSL lawmakers who rejected amendments.

“The state can still try to prosecute our loved ones - friends, mothers, partners and partners - for supporting abortion," she said.