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Polish parliament rejects near-total ban on abortion

Xinhua, October 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Poland's parliament on Thursday voted to reject a bill for a near-total ban on abortion.

In the vote, 352 lawmakers rejected the bill against 58 in favor, while 18 abstained, Polish Press Agency reported.

Under the rejected bill, abortion is only permitted when the mother's life was in serious danger. Women and doctors may have to face up to five years' jail term if they are involved in abortion.

Such a penalty was one of the most controversial part of the rejected bill. There was a heated debate even prior to the vote on Thursday, during which the Stop Abortion Committee, the author of the bill, proposed the removal of clauses that advocate penalties on women for abortion.

Leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose MPs were among those vetoed the bill, said the solutions proposed in the act could have an opposite effect to those intended.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo assured that her government would do everything to protect human life.

"We will prepare a programme ... to aid families and mothers who decide to raise children born from so-called difficult pregnancies ... to support families with handicapped children", said Szydlo, adding the program could be introduced next year.

Szydlo also announced a comprehensive publicity campaign to raise people's awareness in protecting human lives.

After the bill was rejected, the Stop Abortion Committee said it planned to continue its efforts to encourage women to give up abortion as it was gaining many supporters.

According to the country's Health Ministry, 1,044 abortions were carried out in Poland in 2015. Enditem