Following the vote at the National Assembly and adoption by the Senate, legislation surrounding in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) was endorsed by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski on Wednesday, 21 July.
This law authorises:
Access to and reimbursement of IVF for both married and unmarried couples.
The freezing of a maximum of 6 embryos which will be stored in embryo banks.
Anonymous transmission for the adoption of surplus embryos by other couples.
It prohibits the sale and destruction of embryos, which carries a 5-year prison sentence.
The Head of State nevertheless announced that he was going to call on the Constitutional Court regarding a controversial article, which authorises the collection of reproductive cells in people incapable of giving their consent. This procedure will not prevent the law from coming into force three months after it has been signed.
For the conservatives, the law is contrary to the Constitution. It authorises embryo selection and leaves the door open to IVF for homosexual couples. Moreover, surrogacy is not covered by Polish law.
AFP (22/07/2015)