Polish MPs vote to ease abortion ban, but president threatens veto

Polish lawmakers have voted to ease the abortion ban, but the bill may not survive an encounter with the president: Karol Nawrocki has made it clear he will block any liberalisation, news agencies report.

Predominantly Catholic Poland introduced a near-total ban on abortion in 2021, after the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that terminating a pregnancy because of foetal abnormalities was unconstitutional. The ban sparked mass protests.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European coalition won the 2023 election partly thanks to a promise to loosen the restrictions. Tusk's government has already taken steps to widen access to abortion within the existing rules, which allow a pregnancy to be terminated on mental health grounds.

Parliamentary committees are also discussing a separate bill that would legalise abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

Under current Polish law, abortion is permitted only in cases of rape or incest, or when a woman's health or life is at risk.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz