The Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament, is set to review the bill this week.
Currently, Polish law permits abortion in two cases: when the pregnancy poses a threat to the life or health of the pregnant woman, and when there is justified suspicion that the pregnancy resulted from a prohibited act.
Duda was asked in an interview with private broadcaster TVN24 whether he would sign the bill concerning the decriminalization of abortion and assistance in terminating a pregnancy up to 12 weeks. “No,” Duda, who is currently in Washington at the NATO summit, told the outlet.
He assured that pregnant women would not be "punished in any way" for having an abortion, emphasizing that "the woman is in a special situation here." However, he added that penalizing individuals who participate in the illegal process is "a completely different matter." Duda stressed his belief that abortion is "depriving people of life."
The bill, which MPs will consider at the next Sejm session, seeks to partially decriminalize and remove penalties from acts related to pregnancy termination: completely excluding criminal liability for terminating a pregnancy up to 12 weeks with the woman's consent and excluding criminal liability for terminating a pregnancy with the woman's consent in cases of severe, irreversible impairment or incurable disease of the fetus.
Poland is one of five European Union member states that do not allow same-sex couples to formalize their relationships. This issue is also unregulated in Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia.
(jh)
Source: PAP, TVN24
