Oslo: Proaborcyjna akcja solidarnościowa pod Ambasadą Polski

The “Stop Abortion” civic committee is very close to submitting a draft law introducing a complete ban on abortion and a new category into the criminal code – “prenatal murder”, which will introduce penalty of 3 to 5 years in prison for women, doctors and anyone helping a woman to perform an abortion. If abortion is unintentional the penalty will be up to 3 years. The Court will have the possibility to drop charges. In the rationale, the authors of the draft law quote the teachings of Polish Pope, John Paul II, refer to the Polish constitution which grants legal protection to all human beings (it doesn’t however clarify when human life begins) and also selectively quotes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Additionally they also propose to replace the term “human fetus” with “conceived child” where possible. The draft law doesn’t at all refer to the protection of woman’s life, health and wellbeing.

This anti-choice initiative is currently waiting for the decision of the Marshall of the Sejm on whether it will be registered. The deadline has to be made by Monday, April 11th. If successful, the “Stop Abortion” committee will have 3 months to collect

100 000 signatures to ensure that the law will be debated in the Polish Parliament.

Only recently Polish prime minister, Beata Szydło, said that she supports this initiative and “hopes for a reasonable voice on behalf of the episcopate to ensure a substantive discussion”. On Sunday, April 3rd, the statement of the Polish Episcopate was read aloud in all churches in Poland. The document states that life begins from the moment of conception and ends with natural death. The Church called upon all people, Parliamentarians and policy makers to ensure legal protection of unborn children.