EUROPE/POLAND-New draft law against any type of abortion
Warsaw (Agenzia Fides) - The Pro-life activists Foundation in Poland have collected 600 000 signatures in favor of a bill that would prohibit any type of abortion in the country protecting the unborn from the moment of conception. The present Polish legal system had asked the promoters of the initiative to collect 100 000 signatures in three months. The Foundation, in charge of the initiative, has collected 600 thousand in two weeks. The initiative is supported by the Catholic Church and the new Parliamentary Pro-Life Committee. "This project is definitely an opportunity to reject the legacy left by Nazism and communism, bringing the practice of abortion in Poland", says a statement by Jacek Sapa, a member of the Foundation, released by Aica Agency. In 1993 the country passed more restrictive abortion laws throughout the West. Since then the rate of abortions has declined substantially: according to estimates by the Ministry of Health there was a decrease from 82 000 abortions in 1989 to approximately 500 recorded in 2008. The current legislature provides for recourse to abortion only when the child is diagnosed with a serious illness, when the mother has a serious health problem or when the pregnancy is the result of "an unlawful act". "However, physicians often abuse the law, and even if the maximum allowed by law is 24 weeks, they go even further", concludes Sapa. (PA) (Agenzia Fides Fides 12/7/2011)
