The parliamentary pages published draft bills filed Friday by Third Way clubs - one, amending the anti-abortion law, the main idea of which is to return to the so-called "abortion compromise" from before the October 2020 verdict of the Constitutional Court, while the other assumes radical changes to the rules for reimbursement of contraceptives, which for women under 25 would be free, while after that age limit reimbursement would be more favorable (and broader) than at present.
There is no consensus on abortion. Third Way has its project
Published Feb. 24, 2024 15:34
fot. screenshot | YouTube: Sejm RP
The Third Way - both Poland2050 and the PSL - do not agree with the proposals for liberalizing anti-abortion laws previously made by the Left (two projects) and the Civic Coalition (one project). There is no agreement from the parties of Szymon Holownia and Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on legalizing abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and it is unclear whether there will be agreement on a compromise solution regarding the decriminalization of abortion and its total decriminalization - with the caveat that, as a rule, abortion is allowed only in legally defined cases. The Third Way Clubs announced that they would submit their own proposal, with the clear implication on abortion being a return to the status quo prior to the fall of 2020, with a declaration on a referendum on abortion legislation.
But in recent days, additional information has emerged that Third Way is also preparing a proposal for fundamental changes in contraceptive reimbursement, which would, as it were, complement the conservative - certainly for the KO and Left electorate - position on abortion. And this is what happened. The MP's draft amendment to the Law on Health Care Services Financed from Public Funds and the Law on Reimbursement of Medicines, Foodstuffs for Special Nutritional Purposes and Medical Devices, provides:
- Introduce free access to commercially available contraceptives for women under the age of 25;
- Allowing the use of reimbursed contraception to a greater extent than before for women over the age of 25.
Presenting the drafts on Friday, Third Way deputies said that the abortion draft is a "lifesaver," because it will fully restore the possibility of aborting pregnancies not only under the premise of grave fetal harm, but also make doctors less afraid to perform procedures when a woman's life and health are at risk. At the same time, the draft also calls for the introduction of knowledge of sexual life in schools, "the principles of conscious and responsible parenthood, the value of the family, life in the prenatal phase, and methods and means of conscious procreation and contraception."
The Third Way projects have gone to the Sejm's Legislative Bureau for an opinion. Sejm Speaker Szymon Holownia announced that all submitted projects on abortion would be considered at one session of the Sejm, but it is unclear - neither when nor if such a scenario will materialize at all, as the Left Club is pushing hard not to delay with its projects. MPs recall that they submitted their two projects right at the beginning of the term, and speak of the Speaker's "freezer."
