Both MPs abstained from the vote on the abortion bill on Friday.
The Polish parliament did not pass the bill to decriminalize abortion assistance. The vote tally was 215 in favor, 218 against, 2 abstentions, and 23 absentees.
Among those voting in favor were 154 KO MPs, 30 from Poland 2050, and 26 from the Left. No MPs from the Civic Coalition, Poland 2050, or the Left, who had prepared the draft amendment to the Penal Code, voted against the bill.
Three KO MPs did not participate in the vote: Krzysztof Grabczuk, Waldemar Sługocki, and Roman Giertych, who was present at the Polish parliament on Friday.
“It was not an ordinary vote. MP Grabczuk is in hospital - he is justified. MPs Giertych and Sługocki will be suspended from the parliamentary caucus and deprived of their functions (vice-chairman of the caucus and deputy minister for development and technology),” Tusk wrote on X on Friday afternoon.
After the vote, Giertych, an avowed opponent of abortion, explained on X that “out of respect for the views of the vast majority of KO voters and the caucus’s discipline,” he chose not to participate.
Sługocki posted on the X platform that his absence from the Sejm was due to a pre-planned business trip to the U.S.
“I have repeatedly stressed the need to decriminalize abortion. I am confident that the bill will return to the Sejm and secure a majority,” he said.
The proposed abortion legislation aimed to decriminalize abortion assistance and allow pregnancy termination with the woman’s consent up to the 12th week.
