Politics
Thursday March 29, 2007
Thousands March in Support of Polish Constitutional Amendment Protecting Unborn
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By Gudrun Schultz
WARSAW, Poland, March 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Polish citizens turned out in a massive show of support for a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the unborn from the moment of conception--as many as 20,000 people joined in a March for Life in Warsaw March 28, according to organizers’ estimates. Police reports showed about 4,000 participants, according to a report by Polish Radio.
Two proposals have been put forward to amend the constitution and ban all abortions.
Introduced by the League of Polish Families, the first proposal would explicitly provide constitutional protection for life “from conception to natural death.”
The second proposal, authored by Polish President Lech Kaczynski, according to a report by the Associated Press, would add an amendment that would protect life from conception and prevent future weakening of current abortion laws.
Currently Poland permits abortion for severe fetal anomaly, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother which, beyond those cases, could also allow for a growing number of abortions through future liberal interpretation of those phrases, as usually occurs in other western nations.
Demonstrators massed in front of the parliament building while a second reading of the proposed amendments took place inside. Pro-life participants attended a Catholic mass before marching to the parliament building--more than 1,700 people packed St. Alexander Church and hundreds more gathered outside. The ceremony was celebrated by Bishop Kazimierz Gorny of Rzeszow, with Poland’s two deputy prime ministers in attendance--Roman Giertych of the League of Polish Families and Andrzej Lepper of the Self-Defence Party.
A counter-demonstration was staged by the Green Party, drawing a few hundred participants predominantly from leftist youth organizations, sexual minorities groups and radical left politicians, according to Polish Radio.
The amendment must receive 307 votes from the total 460 MPs in the Polish Parliament in order to pass. The main opposition party, Civic Platform, is opposed to the amendment, but party leaders have said they will permit members a free vote on the issue.
A majority of polish voters continue to support constitutional protection for the unborn, with 52.4% in favour of amending the constitution and just 15% strongly opposed, according to a poll released earlier this month by Polska Grupa Badawcza.
Some politicians fear an amendment could lead to a national referendum on the issue, which might open the door to legalized abortion.
A vote on the proposed amendments will be held in Parliament on April 12-13.
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Polish People Support Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07031207.html
Poland Holds First March for Life and Family In Warsaw
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060705.html
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