The lower house of the Polish parliament has voted to reimpose a tough law allowing women to have abortions only if they are rape victims, or if giving birth would put their own life at risk.

231 MPs voted in favour of new law

A total of 231 MPs voted to support a constitutional tribunal ruling which overturned a more liberal law by the previous administration. The ruling was opposed by 160 MPs.

It now means that abortion in cases of economic hardship in Poland will become illegal.

Doctors caught carrying out such abortions will face prison sentences of up to two years.

Victory for Pope and Catholic Church

A BBC correspondent in Warsaw says the vote is a victory for the new Solidarity-led coalition and for the Catholic Church which has campaigned for the previous law to be scrapped.

But he says women's groups are angry and frustrated. They say the vote represents a step backwards for Poland and that it will hit the poorest layers of society.

As a result of the ruling, Polish women will be forced to go to other countries if they want to have abortions, or else they will have to go to back-street clinics.

When Poland last had a similarly tough law in the early 1980s it is estimated that tens of thousands of illegal abortions were carried out.
 

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