Poland’s Catholic Church has spoken out against proposals by Poland’s new ruling coalition to liberalise the country's abortion law and restore prescription-free access to the morning-after contraceptive pill.
Civic Coalition (KO), the largest group in Poland’s ruling coalition, has submitted a bill to parliament to introduce abortion on demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy. That would not only end the current near-total ban on abortion – which was introduced in 2021 with the support of the Church – but establish a more permissive legal framework around abortion than existed before,reportsNotes from Poland, a small non-mainstream Polish media.
The ruling coalition itself has also approved legislation to allow over-the-counter access to emergency contraception. That would reverse a 2017 decision by the former conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government that made Poland one of only two EU countries in which a prescription is required.
