Poland eases abortion access with new guidelines for doctors under a restrictive law

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Seeking to Poland’s government is easing access to abortion for women needing to end a pregnancy for health reasons,  issuing guidelines to doctors that reaffirm the legality of the procedure when based on medical recommendations. The law allows abortions for health reasons are permitted but the previous conservative government limited some other qualifying circumstances, leading to mass street protests. Poland’s current government promised to liberalize the law but narrowly failed to win the necessary support in parliament, so is looking at other options. The new guidelines say a woman can obtain a legal abortion based on the recommendation of a single specialist doctor, such as a psychiatrist.