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The Polish parliament will next week begin debating a new drive to pass a total ban on abortion in this predominantly Catholic country whose abortion law is already one of the most restrictive in Europe.
The bill, proposed by the far-right League of Polish Families (LPR), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, will be put to a first reading in the lower house on Wednesday, according the parliament's Internet site.
The LPR wants an article added to the constitution stipulating that "the Polish republic guarantees all people the legal right to life, from the moment of conception."
To pass, the amendment must be backed by two-thirds, or 307, of the 460 members in the lower house.
Though the conservative ruling coalition falls short of this with 230 voices, additional support could come from some members of the main opposition party, the liberal Civic Platform that has a total 132 seats.
But even among ruling conservatives, opinion is split in what continues to be an emotional issue. "I would have trouble looking straight in the eye a woman who was raped then forced to have the baby," Marek Suski, a deputy from the LPR, was quoted by the daily Zycie Warszawy as saying.
The draft amendment, signed by 155 deputies, says: "Every normal democratic society should ensure the protection of its smallest members instead of allowing a situation where the youngest are cruelly but legally assassinated."
The opposition Social Democrats, with 55 seats, have consistently spoken out for liberalizing Poland's anti-abortion law .
Though allowed under communism, abortion has been banned since 1989 in Poland, where more than 90 percent of the population is Catholic, unless there has been rape or incest, the mother's health is at risk or the foetus risks irreversible malformation.
A doctor who performs an illegal abortion can be liable up to two years in prison. A mother cannot be subject to legal sanctions for an abortion.
Previous attempts to ease Poland's abortion laws have run up against opposition from the powerful Roman Catholic church.
Poland ranks with Ireland, Portugal and Malta as having Europe's strictest laws on voluntary termination of pregnancy.
Portugal will face a fresh referendum early next year on the issue, with polls pointing to a close fight with only a slim majority in favour of ending its strict laws.
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AFP 211132 GMT 10 06
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