During Holy Week, when we remembered the martyrdom of Jesus, many Poles heard about the innocent death of 9-month-old Felek (such an altered name was given to him by Gazeta Wyborcza journalists). Potassium chloride – a substance used to carry out death sentences – was injected into the heart of the boy who was due to be born any day.
In a judgment of October 22, 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the statutory provision allowing eugenic abortion is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The challenged provision concerned the permissibility of terminating a pregnancy, and thus killing a conceived child, in a situation where prenatal tests or other medical reasons indicate a high probability of a severe and irreversible impairment or an incurable disease that threatens the child's life.
The first reading of the “Stop abortion” bill (pl. Zatrzymaj aborcję) will be held again today in Sejm, the lower house of the polish parliament. The bill – which proposes repealing the laws which legitimate eugenic abortion – has been signed by over 830,000 Poles.