WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 5 (UPI) — It appears Poland is backing away from legislation to completely ban all abortions in the country after nationwide street protests opposed the measure.
The Justice and Human Rights Committee of the Polish Sejm recommended Wednesday that the proposal be thrown out by parliament. That decision was followed by members of Poland’s ruling party, the Law and Justice (PiS) party,expressing new disapproval for the bill.
Protests occurred in about 60 cities across Poland recently after the government in Warsaw introduced the proposed law.
Many women and men dressed in black during the demonstrations Monday.
Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who had previously expressed support for the ban, said Wednesday that it’s been all but abandoned.
“I want to state very clearly that the government is not working on any legislation changing the rules on abortion in Poland,” she said.
The minister of science and higher education, Jarosław Gowin, said the sudden reversal on the law was due to the widespread opposition. He said the “black Monday” protests “caused us to think and taught us humility.”
Former prime minister Ewa Kopacz said the PiS “backtracked because it was scared by all the women who hit the streets in protest,” Britain’s The Guardian reported.
“The protest was bigger than anyone expected. People were astonished,” activist Agnieszka Graff said.
The abrupt dismissal of the law came just ahead of a European Parliament debate on women’s rights in Poland scheduled for Wednesday evening.
The bill will now go back to Poland’s Parliament — with the Justice and Human Rights Committee’s recommendation to vote it down — but Szydlo and other PiS members indicated that they won’t support it even if it’s resurrected and sent back for approval.
“The proposal for introducing a complete ban on abortion will definitely not pass,” Gowin said.
However, PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński indicated that lawmakers could try to tighten Poland’s abortion laws to a lesser degree in the future — in which case, activists have promised further protests.
