MEPs debate abortion in Poland

European lawmakers on Wednesday debated abortion rights in Poland following a late October ruling by the country’s Constitutional Tribunal that it is unconstitutional to abort a foetus if it has congenital defects.

Polish MEP Jadwiga Wiśniewska, pictured last year.

Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

“The EU has to respect member states in their right to determine their own health service policies and systems,” said Jadwiga Wiśniewska, a Euro-deputy from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.

She added: “The initiators of this debate want at all costs to incite street protests in Poland, which pose deadly health risks” amid a coronavirus epidemic.