Polish lawmakers on Friday failed to pass legislation that would decriminalize abortion in a tightly contested vote, failing to overturn one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the European Union.
Lawmakers voted 218-215 against a bill that would have removed criminal penalties for those facilitating abortions as well as lifting the prohibition on individuals selling emergency contraceptive pills.
The move comes amid a debate over abortion rights around the world started by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States in 2022.
In March, France became the first country to enshrine abortion into its constitution. Following the U.S. overturning of Roe, France increased the legal limit for abortion from 12 to 14 weeks gestation amid outrage that women often had to travel abroad to obtain the controversial procedure.
American conservatives frequently point to European countries as having less permissive standards on abortion than the U.S., with the average length being a prohibition starting between 12 and 14 weeks of pregnancy.
The Netherlands and the United Kingdom prohibit abortion after 24 weeks gestation, the most permissive in Europe.
In Poland, current law only permits abortion in cases involving rape or incest, or when the mother’s life or health is at risk.
Friday’s bill was the first of four bills on easing abortion restrictions, many of which were put in place following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The nationalist government in 2021 instituted the current near-total ban on the procedure, however.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who took power in December, brought together a narrow coalition government in part based upon expanding reproductive rights.
One of the other bills proposed by Tusk’s coalition would be to allow abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy, which the anti-abortion President Andrzej Duda has vowed to veto if passed.
Republicans often point to the pro-family policies of Poland as what conservatives should adopt as the post-Roe version of the anti-abortion movement.
The Polish government in 2021 announced a plan to pay families approximately $3,000 for each child after their first born up until the age of 3, benefiting all families regardless of income. It is an incentive for family growth amid plummeting birthrates across the former Eastern Bloc.
Although Republican candidates are quick to distance themselves from the anti-abortion policies of Poland and nearby Hungary — also a pro-natalist country — they often highlight the need for better child tax credits in the U.S. and other economic incentives to make having children more affordable.
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Pennsylvania Republican candidate for Senate Dave McCormick told the Washington Examiner there is a big difference between being pro-family and anti-abortion, but that economic incentives like doubling the federal child tax credit and giving tax breaks for in vitro fertilization are critical to family creation.
Other Republican hopefuls for the Senate, including Arizona’s Kari Lake and Ohio’s Bernie Moreno, also cited falling birthrates in the U.S. as an impetus to adopt pro-family economic policies.