"First step": civil society welcomes Polish votes The Center for Reproductive Rights in Europe said that “today lawmakers in Poland voted in favour of continuing the legislative process for all 4 draft bills to reforming the abortion law. This is an important first step towards aligning the law with the majority of European countries where abortion is legal on request.” Summary of the day The Polish parliament considered proposals on loosening the country’s near total ban on abortion. The MPs looked at four bills: Two are aimed at legalising abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and another is focused on decriminalisation. The fourth seeks a return to strict 1993 laws. The parliament voted on Friday afternoon to send all four bills to a special committee for consideration, despite differences of opinion within the ruling coalition. The speaker of the Polish parliament, Szymon Hołownia, said his party backed the bills “out of respect for democracy and concern for the durability of the coalition.” Civil society groups and some MPs celebrated the move. Miko Czerwiński, head of campaigns at Amnesty International Poland, said that “Poland’s parliament has taken a significant step towards ending Poland’s cruel and draconian restrictions on access to abortion.” The Center for Reproductive Rights in Europe said that “this is an important first step towards aligning the law with the majority of European countries where abortion is legal on request.” The president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, the archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, urged Poles “to make this Sunday a day of special prayer in defence of the unborn.” Politicians in Poland have voted to move forward with draft legislation aimed at lifting the country’s near-total ban on abortion, in what campaigners described as a crucial first step towards loosening some of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws. On Friday MPs in Poland’s lower house of parliament voted to send four bills on abortion for further study by a parliamentary committee, including two that propose legalising abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy. The long-awaited vote followed a six-hour debate on Thursday, during which the deep divisions over abortion access in Donald Tusk’s ruling coalition were laid bare. On Friday, reaction to the vote was swift. “This is a historic moment,” said Kamila Ferenc of the Federation for Women and Family Planning. “For the first time since 1996, projects liberalising and decriminalising abortion have been sent to a second reading in parliamentary committee.” Her organisation had long worked towards this outcome, meeting MPs, educating them and speaking out about the need to change the law, she said. But Friday’s vote was just the beginning of what was likely to be a long legislative journey, she added. “We have a lot of work to do in the future.” The mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, said today was “an important day” in the parliament. "Significant step": Amnesty International welcomes Polish move, calls for "urgent" action Miko Czerwiński, head of Campaigns at Amnesty International Poland, said after the votes that “by approving these four amendments, Poland’s parliament has taken a significant step towards ending Poland’s cruel and draconian restrictions on access to abortion, which have had a devastating impact on the lives and health of so many people.” He added: Poland needs to urgently amend their abortion law which endangers lives, jeopardises health and contravenes the country’s international and European human rights obligations as well as flies in the face of in the face of the World Health Organization’s abortion care guideline. As these amendments go through to the next voting stage, it is crucial that politicians listen to the voices of civil society and those people directly affected by the near total ban on abortion and bring the law into compliance with international human rights standards. Archbishop calls for day of prayer "in defence of the unborn" The president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, the archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, has called for a special day of prayer on Sunday. Wojda urged Poles “to make this Sunday a day of special prayer in defence of the unborn.” “I ask that in all churches in Poland, at every Holy Mass, we pray for this intention,” he said. A national march for life is also planned for this Sunday. "First step": civil society welcomes Polish votes The Center for Reproductive Rights in Europe said that “today lawmakers in Poland voted in favour of continuing the legislative process for all 4 draft bills to reforming the abortion law. This is an important first step towards aligning the law with the majority of European countries where abortion is legal on request.” Katarzyna Lubnauer, a member of the Sejm from the Nowoczesna (Modern) party, said today’s votes are “just the first step.” “The last one will be the entry into force of the right to abortion up to 12 weeks. As soon as possible,” she said. “We got it!!” wrote the New Left’s Robert Biedroń. “The Sejm voted on the abortion projects prepared by the Left and referred them to a special committee in the Sejm. This is good news, especially for Polish women who have been fighting for their rights for 30 years. We keep working!” he said. “We promised to stop arguing and we kept our word,” wrote the speaker of the Polish parliament, Szymon Hołownia. “In Poland 2050 we believe that the greatest chance for change is provided by a referendum, but we voted for all the projects,” he said, adding: “We did it out of respect for democracy and concern for the durability of the coalition. Now we leave the fate of these bills in the hands of the committee members.” “Today is a very happy day for Polish women!” wrote Małgorzata Tracz, a member of the Sejm for the Greens. Polish parliament votes in favour The Polish parliament has voted in favour of sending all four bills on abortion to a special commission. Two of the bills are aimed at legalising abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and another is focused on decriminalisation. The fourth, introduced by the conservative Third Way alliance, seeks a return to strict 1993 laws. Voting on the abortion-related bills has started. Voting starts soon. Stay tuned. In a statement yesterday, the archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, said: I urgently ask all people of good will to care for the lives of unborn children and their mothers, to oppose the culture of exclusion, which deprives the most defenceless and weak people of their fundamental right – the right to life. "Access to abortion is an undisputed European standard," Biedroń says Robert Biedroń, a member of the European parliament from Poland’s New Left party, said that the country must become “more European” on abortion rights. “Yesterday, the European Parliament has once again taken a clear position: the right to abortion is a human right,” he said in an emailed statement. “Access to abortion is an undisputed European standard and it is high time for Poland to become more European in this respect as well,” he added. In a resolution approved yesterday, the European parliament called on Warsaw to change its abortion policies. The parliament “urges the Member States to fully decriminalise abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines, and to remove and combat obstacles to safe and legal abortion,” the MEPs said. They also called “on Poland and Malta to repeal their laws and other measures concerning bans and restrictions on abortion” and urged “the Polish authorities to prioritise legislative efforts to ensure full access to safe and legal abortion as soon as possible.” "Gatekeepers": MEP criticises politicians for "business as usual" on women"s rights Sylwia Spurek, an independent member of the European parliament from Poland who serves as vice-chair of the parliament’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality, told the Guardian ahead of today’s votes that some groups want to continue with “business as usual” on women’s rights. “The debate of draft laws concerning abortion in Polish Sejm shows that politicians, men and women not only from right wing parties but also from centre parties still want to play a role of gatekeepers of women’s rights,” Spurek said in an email. “They still want to keep business as usual as regard to the women’s rights and control decisions that should be women’s own decisions,” she said. Spurek added: Some of them probably are afraid of the Church but many of them just don’t want to let women make their own choices. There is a huge gap between the positions and opinions they present and the positions of NGOs and groups like Abortion without Borders even in the language they use. The fear of changing the status quo is common in centre parties in the European parliament, too - look how many European People’s party MEPs were afraid and didn’t take part in yesterday voting concerning the inclusion of the right to abortion in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Polish MPs consider four proposals on easing strict abortion rules Poland’s parliament this week began a long-awaited debate on loosening the country’s near total ban on abortion, in what campaigners have described as a crucial test of the country’s new government. More than three years after hundreds of thousands of people poured on to the streets wielding placards that read “the revolution has a uterus” and “my body, my choice”, MPs are considering four proposals. Two of the bills are aimed at legalising abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and another is focused on decriminalisation. The fourth, introduced by the conservative Third Way alliance, seeks a return to the strict 1993 laws hammered out between political leaders and the Catholic church, which were tightened in 2020. Today, MPs will vote on whether to send the bills to a special commission for further study. Poland’s Federation for Women and Family Planning described the debate as a “massive test” of how MPs saw women’s rights. “Women elected this government and our demands are clear – we want legal, safe and accessible abortion,” the organisation wrote on social media. “This week we will find out who was worthy of our vote and who we will not trust again.” Welcome to the blog Good afternoon and welcome back to the Europe blog. Today we will be looking at the latest in Poland’s long-running debate on abortion rules. Stay tuned and send comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com. What do Poles think? In an Ipsos survey conducted for OKO.press and TOK FM, 35% of respondents said MPs should vote on the right to legal abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. 23% were in favour of a referendum, and 21% wanted a return to older rules. 14% supported keeping the current rules.