The lower house of the Polish Parliament on Thursday adopted a law liberalizing access to
the "
morning after pill
"
whose use had been limited by the previous conservative populist government.
The law, which must still be debated in the Senate and promulgated by the conservative president, was voted by 224 deputies, against 196 votes, and authorizes this pill from the age of 15 without a prescription.
In 2017, the previous government limited access to the morning-after pill, which was only available by prescription.
The liberalization of access to this pill was one of the elements of the program of the pro-European coalition which formed its government on December 13.
The position of the president, an ally of the conservative populist opposition, remains uncertain in the face of the new law, with his advisers citing his reservations on the age of access to the morning-after pill, considered too low.
Strong Catholic tradition
Furthermore, Poland, a country with a strong Catholic tradition, still has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with abortion only being authorized in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger.
In 2020, the Constitutional Court sided with the previous government in declaring terminations of pregnancies for fetal malformation
“unconstitutional”
.
The Civic Platform, a member of the current pro-European majority, recently tabled a bill liberalizing abortion up to 12 weeks but its adoption remains uncertain, given the reservations of other coalition parties.
In 2022, only 161 legal abortions were performed, compared to around 2,000 before the law was tightened in 2020. According to feminist organizations, 100,000 women interrupt their pregnancies each year by resorting to abortion pills, banned in Poland, or by going to the foreigner.