UPDATE - As parliament rejects a citizen-initiative to effectively outlaw IVF in Poland, a new survey shows that a majority of Poles are in favour of the treatment.
A majority of Poles are in favour of the IVF procedure, says a poll by PBS DGA.
Sixty seven percent are in favour of the method, with only one in four finding it morally unacceptable.
As to who should receive the treatment, the majority think married couples, those who cannot conceive in the usual way and single women.
Seventy five percent are against doctors being punished for performing IVF, says the poll.
The results put Poles at odds with some of the central teaching of the Roman Catholic church. Ninety percent of Poles identify themselves as catholic.
The survey comes on the heals of the lower house of parliament rejecting a citizens sponsored bill, which would ban in vitro fertilization.
The parliament rejected a citizens’ sponsored bill, which would ban IVF experimentation in Poland.
According to the rejected bill, laboratory workers experimenting on embryos would face between 5 to 25 years in prison, and the sale of embryos would also be outlawed.
The bill was rejected by the ruling Civic Platform, junior coalition Polish Peasant Party together with the opposition Democratic Left Alliance. The opposition Law and Justice was the only party supporting the proposed law.
There are four more competing bills proposing various IVF legislation awaiting votes in parliament. Two are by Civic Platform party MPs, one by Law and Justice, and one by the Left. They are now under debate at the parliamentary commission for health. (PG)