Polish parliament votes to liberalise abortion rights

WARSAW, Poland (AFP)—Poland’s parliament voted on Tuesday to liberalise abortion laws in the traditionally Catholic country, which has some of the EU’s most restrictive rules on ending pregnancies.

But the two bills, backed by pro-European Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government, are expected to be vetoed by the country’s conservative-nationalist president.

The first bill — submitted by Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) party and the Left, would partially decriminalise the termination of a pregnancy and decriminalise assisting abortion — which is currently punishable by up to three years in prison.