On Thursday 6 October, the Polish parliament rejected the draft law introducing an almost total ban on abortion. The previous day, a majority of MEPs and European Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova expressed their opposition to this measure, which had provoked significant demonstrations throughout Europe.
The draft Polish law sought to remove situations in which voluntary terminations of pregnancy could take place – namely in the event of rape or incest, or in instances where the foetus is seriously diseased or where there are proven risks to the life or health of the mother. The draft law proposed punishing women who have illegally terminated pregnancies, as well as their doctors, with prison sentences of up to 5 years.
The European Parliament expressed its opposition to this draft law during a press conference and lengthy debate on 5 October. Malin Björk (GUE-NGL, Sweden), one of the participants at the press conference organised in Strasbourg by the S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA and GUE-NGL Groups, stated that "when rights are under threat somewhere, they are under threat everywhere". Angelika Mlinar (ALDE, Austria) said that "this involves an attack against liberal democracy. Women's rights are human rights". Later on in the afternoon, all MEPs had an opportunity to speak during a debate of almost two hours. A great majority of them expressed their opposition, while MEPs from the ECR Group focused their statements on the absence of EU competences in this area. Jourova stated that "it is true that the European Union does not have a remit on questions involving abortion. That said, I sincerely hope that Poland will not interrupt the progress it has made on equal opportunities". During her closing speech, she exchanged her commissioner's hat for that of a woman and pointed out: "It is as a woman and a descendant of Polish ancestors that I am speaking now. I understand that the Polish people want to decide their future themselves, particularly because we were subject to a non-democratic regime for so long. I do not understand, on the other hand, this draft law: it is less a draft law against abortion than a draft law against individual dignity and the freedom of women to have power over their own bodies".
The text was rejected by the Polish parliament on 6 October after a very heated debate: 352 MPs voted to withdraw the text, whilst 58 voted against this decision and 18 abstained. The president of the party in office, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, supported the withdrawal of the text, asserting that it was in danger of producing exactly the opposite consequences of those intended. He promised that his party would continue to "defend life" but with action that was "more thought out". (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)