Three former Polish first ladies protest possible abortion ban

The letter, which was signed by Danuta Wałęsa, Jolanta Kwaśniewska and Anna Komorowska, follows a series of public protests against the prospective legislation.

“Every abortion is traumatic, but you cannot deepen that trauma for women by forcing them to give birth to children [conceived through] rape, or by risking the life or health of the mother or their child,” the former first ladies argued.

On Wednesday 30 March, the head of the Polish Episcopate Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki called on MPs to vote through legislation that would outlaw abortion outright in Poland, arguing that according to the Scriptures, "compromise" is not possible in this matter.

The following day, Prime Minister Beata Szydło of the Law and Justice party said she favoured a complete ban. Poland's PRO Foundation (Fundacja Pro) is currently gathering signatures for a so-called citizen's bill, under the slogan 'Stop Abortion'. At least 100,000 signatures are needed for the draft legislation to be submitted to the lower house of parliament (Sejm). The house will then decide whether or not to proceed.

Female opposition MPs wrote a letter last week to current First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, appealing to her to oppose the possible ban, but she has remained silent on the matter.

Current laws

Poland's current abortion laws, which have been in place since 1993, are among the most stringent in Europe on the matter. Abortion is only permissible if a woman's life or health is jeopardised by the continuation of a pregnancy, if the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act such as rape or incest, or if the foetus is seriously malformed. The abortion must be carried out within the first 25 weeks of the pregnancy. (nh)