Polish opposition parties call for referendum on abortion law

If the opposition wins power at this autumn’s elections it should call a referendum to decide on Poland’s abortion law within the first 100 days, say two parties that are likely to be junior partners in any coalition government formed if the opposition win power.

However, the idea has already been criticised by a left-wing party that is also likely to be part of such a coalition. It was also rejected by a politician from the ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which oversaw the introduction in 2021 of a near-total ban on abortion in Poland.

On Wednesday, Szymon Hołownia, leader of the centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050) party, and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, head of the agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL), presented a joint list of six policies they would want to be introduced under a new government.

Among those pencilled in for the first 100 days in office is holding a referendum to decide on what form the abortion law should take.

Between 1993 and 2020, Poland already had one of Europe’s strictest abortion laws, with terminations only allowed in three cases: if the pregnancy resulted from a criminal act; if it threatened the mother’s life or health; or if the foetus was diagnosed with a severe birth defect.

In a 2020 ruling, the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), a body widely seen as being under the influence of PiS, declared the last of those justifications to be unconstitutional. Such abortions had previously constituted around 98% of legal terminations in Poland, making the ruling in effect a near-total ban on abortion.

Speaking on Wednesday, Hołownia declared the TK’s ruling to have been a “scandalous decision”. But he said it should be up to the Polish people, not “politicians or bishops”, to decide this issue – therefore the need for a referendum.

In a subsequent interview with Onet, Hołownia also argued that it would be much harder for President Andrzej Duda, a conservative and usually a PiS ally, to veto a new abortion law if it resulted from a referendum than if it were just passed by parliament in the normal fashion.

Opinion polls since the TK’s ruling have consistently shown that a large majority of the public are opposed to the new, stricter abortion rules. However, polling also shows that Poles are split over what kind of law they want instead.

Some surveys have found that a plurality – 43% in one 2021 poll – favour a return to the abortion law that was in force until 2020. However, others suggest that a growing majority – 70% in a poll last November – actually want even further liberalisation by allowing abortion on demand.

In 2021, a poll by United Surveys for the Wprost weekly found that over half of Poles, 55%, wanted a referendum to decide the abortion law while 34% opposed the idea. The Rzeczpospolita newspaper reports today that PSL and Poland 2050 have internal polling showing 75% support for a referendum.

However, the two parties currently have the support of 9% of voters in the case of Poland 2050 and 5% for PSL, according to polls. Were they to form part of a coalition government, it would be one likely dominated by the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), which has around 28% support, and also involving The Left (Lewica), which is on 8%.

Both KO and The Left have declared support for introducing some form of abortion on demand if they come to power. Yesterday, figures from The Left rejected the idea of a referendum.

Monthly polling averages for Poland’s main political groups (via ewybory.eu)

“The Left in a future government will make sure that our conservative and agrarian friends do not try to return to the old, rotten [abortion] compromise that did not work,” said left-wing MP Katarzyna Kotula, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“Abortion should be legal, safe, available and free until the 12th week [of pregnancy] without giving a reason,” she added, pointing to polls showing strong support for abortion on demand. “Society has already expressed its opinion on this matter.”

One of The Left’s leaders, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, admitted that in 2016 he had campaigned for a referendum on abortion. But he said he now realised “I was wrong” to do so and “I have been convinced of the ideas presented by MP Kotula on behalf of the entire Left”.

No senior figures from KO have yet commented on the referendum proposal. However, last year their leader, Donald Tusk, pledged that a KO-led government would on its first day in office introduce a bill allowing abortion on demand. He added that only supporters of this view could stand as election candidates.

A PiS MEP, Zdzislaw Krasnodębski, however, told RMF FM this morning that he was opposed to referendums on “issues of human dignity” and “the protection of life” such as abortion or euthanasia.

Among the other policy proposal presented by Poland 2050 and PSL this week were steps to de-politicise state-owned companies, “restore decent wages” for public sector workers, improve the teaching of English in schools, invest in green energy, and reform the tax system.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.