LPR looks likely to lose abortion debate

When junior coalition partner the League of Polish Families (LPR) proposed a blanket ban on abortions - even in cases of rape and when the mother's health is threatened - the country girded itself for another battle royal over the controversial issue. However, it now looks unlikely that the necessary changes to the Constitution will be passed, as both the President and the Prime Minister have both come out against the amendment.

"I am for keeping the status quo," President Lech Kaczyński was quoted as saying last week. "The compromise reached on abortion 13 years ago is good." The President's brother, Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, echoed the sentiments, saying he wanted to avoid another furor over the issue.

After communism fell in 1989, Polish politicians on the left and right joined with Catholic bishops to reach a broad consensus that restricted abortion rights to cases of rape, incest, or serious health risks to the mother or fetus. The current law is already considered one of Europe's toughest.

LPR suggested amending the Constitution to enact a total ban on the procedure. "A child should not be punished for the crimes of his father," said LPR deputy Marek Kotlinowski, referring to rape cases. "It's a tragedy for the woman. But the fate of the child interests me more."

Some more conservative members of the Kaczyńskis' Law and Justice (PiS) party had expressed support for the ban, but after their party's leaders' clear signals that they would not back the amendment, it now seems likely that the proposal will not garner the 307 votes it needs to pass. (Reuters)