By Dave Andrusko
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo
In an interview with the Gosc Niedzielny Catholic weekly, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo signaled her strong support for a draft law that would ban eugenic abortions.
“I am sure that the bill will find great support in our parliamentary group, and of course I will vote for its adoption. I oppose eugenic abortion,” she said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
President Andrzej Duda “has already said that he will sign the law into being if it is adopted by the legislature,” AFP reported.
The Stop Abortion Committee, a citizens group, “says it has already collected 200,000 signatures, double the amount required to submit its draft law banning eugenic abortion to parliament.”
The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues explains that
Historically, Poland rejected abortion on demand in 1993 and enacted The Family Planning, Human Embryo Protection and Conditions of Permissibility of Abortion following the fall of communism and the establishment of democracy. The Abortion Act recognized the need to protect the unborn child and stated:
“Every human being shall have a natural right to life as from the time of his conception
“The life and health of the child shall be placed under the protection of the law, as from the time of its conception.”
Currently, abortions are illegal except in cases of rape or incest, “the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother or the foetus is severely deformed,” AFP reported. However the “severely deformed” category sweeps in babies such as those with Down syndrome, thus the need for the new law.