As of: January 24, 2024, 5:46 p.m
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Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to loosen abortion laws and make the morning-after pill easier (archive photo).
© Czarek Sokolowski/AP/dpa
Stricter abortion laws have been in effect in Poland since 2021, which caused violent protests.
The new government of Prime Minister Tusk is now planning to relax the restrictions.
Warsaw - Poland's new Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to loosen abortion rights.
“We are ready to submit a draft for legal and safe abortion up to the 12th week to parliament in the next few hours,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw.
The amendment to the law is the proposal of his party's faction, the liberal-conservative citizens' coalition.
Tusk's center-left government includes two other parties, the left-wing Lewica alliance and the Christian-conservative Third Way.
“As you know, there are different views within the coalition on this issue (abortion),” Tusk said.
Another bill is intended to make the morning-after pill easier to access.
Women and girls aged 15 and over should be able to receive them without a prescription in the future.
Controversial abortion law in force since 2021
In 2021, stricter abortion laws came into force in Poland following a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court.
Since then, women have not been allowed to have an abortion even if an unborn child has severe malformations.
Last year there were protests across the country after the death of a pregnant woman during hospital treatment.
The woman died of sepsis after her amniotic fluid leaked.
Women's rights activists accused the doctors of not opting for an abortion despite the complications - out of fear of legal consequences.
dpa