Deputies from TUSK Coalition are catching up with him
Even if your child is severely malformed, women in Poland cannot have an abortion. Minister-President Tusk took office with the promise to change this. However, there is strong resistance within his own coalition to a corresponding bill.
The narrow failure of the liberalization of the strict abortion law still causes unrest in the Polish center-left coalition. Minister-President Donald Tusk dismissed an MP of his party, Citizens Coalition (KO), Waldemar Slugocki, as Vice-Minister for Development and Technology. Slugocki and two other KO MPs were absent or abstained during the vote in the Warsaw parliament on July 12. For the draft of the small left alliance partner Lewica, only 215 MPs in the Sejm voted, while 218 MPs were against it.
However, more and more people from the coalition were leaving, especially 24 MPs of the Christian-conservative Third Way. Vice-Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated in an interview that his Polish People's Party PSL, which is part of the Third Way, is not a vassal of Tusk's KO.
"It has turned out to be an illusion that the supporters of the liberalization of the abortion law form a majority in the Sejm," commented Tusk. "No, we are a minority in this Sejm." He admitted that he had not found the arguments to convince all in his coalition government. For Tusk, the repeal of the abortion law is an election promise, for which he received the votes of many women in Poland in 2023.
Facing up to three years in prison for helping with an abortion
In the strict Polish legal situation, an abortion is allowed after rape or incest, or if the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. If the unborn child shows severe birth defects, women cannot have an abortion. The abortion itself is not punishable criminally. However, helping with an abortion can result in up to three years in prison. This can also affect husbands, partners, or relatives who obtain abortion pills for a pregnant woman. The draft bill aimed to make such assistance legal.
Slugocki and MP Roman Giertych were expelled from the KO faction after the vote. However, Tusk protected Giertych: He is a known opponent of abortion, and his vote for the law was not expected. The Minister-President instructed the Ministries of Justice and Health to change their guidelines to the prosecutor's office to make life easier for women. This is about the handling of natural miscarriages. Women were exposed to the suspicion of having had an abortion.
The ongoing debate over abortion legislation in Poland causes tension within Minister-President Tusk's coalition, as he advocates for liberalization but faces resistance from coalition members. Despite the failure to pass the draft bill, Tusk still views repealing the strict abortion law as a key election promise, resulting from his promise upon taking office as Minister-President.
In light of the strict Polish abortion laws, Minister-President Donald Tusk's promise to change the situation has led to consequences for those opposing his views, such as the dismissal of Waldemar Slugocki for his absence during the vote on the issue.
