Polish parliament advances bills to loosen near-total abortion ban

April 12 (UPI) -- Polish lawmakers Friday advanced four draft bills aimed at loosening the nation's near-total ban on abortion.

Two of the bills seek to legalize abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and another was focused on decriminalization of abortion under Poland's current laws, instituted in 2020, that outlaw abortion in nearly all cases with exceptions only for when the mother's life or health is at risk or in pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

A fourth bill, introduced by the conservative Third Way alliance, sought to revert abortion laws to previous standards established in 1993.

All four bills were approved by parliament and will now be sent to a committee for further study.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged to repeal the strict abortion laws but his ruling coalition had not established a singular plan to replace it.

If passed, Polish President Andrzej Duda can veto the proposals.

Despite the uncertainty, lawmakers celebrated the progress on Friday.

"This is a historic moment. For the first time since 1996, projects liberalizing and decriminalizing abortion have been sent to a second reading in parliamentary committee," the Federation for Women and Family Planning's Kamila Ferenc said.

"Today is a very happy day for Polish women!" Małgorzata Tracz of the Greens said on X. "Bills liberalizing abortion law are passed in the Parliament for reading!"

Parliament Speaker and conservative Third Way party lawmaker Szymon Hołownia said despite his party preferring a referendum on the issue, Third Way backed all the bills.

"We did it out of respect for democracy and concern for the durability of the coalition. Now we leave the fate of these bills in the hands of the committee member," he said.

Rights groups also hailed the decision as a step in the right direction for Poland.

"This is an important first step towards aligning the law with the majority of European countries where abortion is legal on request," said the Center for Reproductive Rights in a statement.

"By approving these four amendments, Poland's parliament has taken a significant step towards ending Poland's cruel and draconian restrictions on access to abortion, which have had a devastating impact on the lives and health of so many people," Amnesty International's Head of Campaigns Miko Czerwiński said in a statement.