Public reason in practice – the moral legitimacy of the motion of Polish MPs challenging the constitutionality of abortion law

Abstract

In the paper, I analyse the argumentation which supports the motion put forward by a group of Polish MPs challenging the constitutionality of the provision which allows abortion in the event of grave and irreversible fetal defects or an incurable illness that threatens the foetus life. My considerations do not concern the legality of this action. Instead, I am interested in the issue of moral legitimacy of the MPs’ action. I search for the answer whether their initiative is defensible in terms of public morality. The evaluation is conducted according to the principles of the most important contemporary conception of political legitimacy, which is John Rawls’s theory of public reason. Therefore, firstly, I give an account of the Rawlsian theory of public reason. I focus mainly
on the conditions that settle the criteria of the legitimacy of political actions. Then I summarise the arguments which support the demand of the MPs concerned. Finally, in the main part of the paper, I evaluate their action in the light of the theory of public reason.