In a huge pro-life victory, the Polish parliament has rejected a measure to legalize killing babies in abortions. That keeps Poland as one of the few nations in Europe that protects the lives of unborn children.
The ruling centre-left coalition in Poland lost a parliamentary vote 218-215 that saw decisive votes come from the centrist coalition partner, the Polish People’s Party — whose MPs mostly voted against the pro-abortion measure.
According to one report, “The text submitted to the vote on Friday was rejected by representatives from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party and the far-right Konfederacja, which are two major opposition groups. Some deputies of the PSL (Christian Democrats), members of the ruling coalition, also voted against it.”
President Andrzej Duda, a close ally of the PiS, warned that he would veto all the bills even if they are passed.
Before the vote, Poland’s Catholic bishops allied for a day of prayer to oppose it.
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“I warmly encourage you to make the coming Sunday a day of special prayer in defense of the unborn,” Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, the chair of the Polish Episcopal Conference, said in a statement. “I ask that in all churches in Poland, at every holy Mass, we pray for this intention.”
“Life is a gift of God and as such is an inalienable right of every human being; therefore, it must be protected and supported at every stage of its development,” the archbishop said. “Respect for life, which belongs to the most important values, is one of the fundamental duties of every human being.”
As CNA reports, the call for prayer comes as Poland is dealing with radical pro-abortion bills.
Lawmakers on Friday advanced four pro-abortion bills to be considered by a special committee in the Sejm, which is Poland’s lower legislative body. This was the first major action on abortion taken by the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk after voters ousted the Law and Justice party from leadership of the country.
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Two of the bills would legalize abortion through the 12th week of pregnancy, which would be a sharp departure from the country’s strong pro-life laws. Under current law, abortion is only legal when the mother’s life is at risk or when the pregnancy occurred from illegal sexual activity, such as rape or incest.
A third bill would decriminalize abortion. Although women who procure abortions do not face criminal penalties under current law, anyone who assists a woman in carrying out an abortion could land up to three years in prison. The proposal would eliminate those criminal penalties for abortionists and other accomplices.
The fourth bill, which was proposed by the center-right Third Way party, would maintain most of the current abortion laws but expand legal abortion to instances in which the unborn child has a fetal abnormality.
Thousands of pro-life advocates recently marched in Poland against abortion to protest the legislation.
