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Polish lawmakers debate state funding for IVF

23.11.2023 07:00
Polish lawmakers have debated a citizens' bill to introduce state funding for in vitro fertilisation, with the majority of parliamentary groups supporting further consideration of the plan.   
Polands Sejm (lower house of parliament).
Poland's Sejm (lower house of parliament).X/Polish Sejm

MPs carried out a first reading of the bill on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Outlining the plan, Agnieszka Pomaska of the liberal Civic Coalition (KO) said state funding for IVF would enable more Poles to have children.

The KO's Barbara Nowacka said the measure would help achieve "social justice" by making IVF available to everyone regardless of financial status.

MPs with the centre-right Third Way alliance, including Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Wioletta Barbara Tomczak, said that IVF should be available to citizens "regardless of the level of wealth" and declared that their group would support the bill.

Wanda Nowicka of the Left group stated that IVF is an effective method of fertilisation, predicting that "in 40 years, over 100,000 children will be born in Poland through IVF."

She estimated that about 3 million people in Poland were affected by infertility.

Józefa Szczurek-Żelazko of the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party said the bill should be "made more specific" and recommended further consideration of the plan.

Speaking on behalf of the far-right Confederation group, Grzegorz Braun said IVF was an "ignoble" method and called on MPs to reject the bill.

Health Minister Katarzyna Sójka said the bill required further consideration to "comprehensively tackle" the issue of infertility.

A top presidential aide, Marcin Mastalerek, said that President Andrzej Duda was unlikely to block the IVF bill, "depending on its final version."

Poland to appoint new gov't

Polish voters last month elected a new set of 460 MPs and 100 senators.

Earlier this month, President Duda named Mateusz Morawiecki, who has led Poland's government since 2017, as prime minister-designate, tasking him with forming a new Cabinet.

The ruling conservative Law and Justice party won Poland's October 15 election, but lost its parliamentary majority and looks unlikely to stay in power for a third consecutive term.

Meanwhile, Donald Tusk, the leader of the Civic Coalition, has already chosen most candidates for ministerial roles in his future Cabinet, according to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

A bloc of opposition parties led by Tusk's Civic Coalition last week secured a resounding victory in Poland's new parliament during its first key vote to elect a house Speaker.

On November 10, these opposition groups, which also include the Third Way and the Left, signed an agreement to form a coalition government, pledging to restore the rule of law, promote green energy, relax abortion rules and bring back state funding for IVF, among other policies.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, RMF 24