Polish MPs reject bill seeking to ease strict abortion law

Anti-abortion demonstrators march in support of every conceived life and against steps taken by the new government to liberalize Poland's strict law and allow termination of pregnancy until the 12th week, in Warsaw, Poland, on April 14, 2024. © Czarek Sokolowski, AP

Poland's lower house rejected a bill on Friday that sought to decriminalise the act of helping someone get an abortion. The vote – in which 218 MPs voted against the bill and 215 were in favour – highlighted the divisions in the ruling coalition over easing one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws. 

Polish MPs on Friday rejected a bill that would have decriminalised the act of facilitating abortions in a blow for reproductive rights and the country's new liberal government.