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The front took place on Thursday night in Warsaw’s Szucha-Allee in front of the constitutional court building: next to the barricades, anti-abortion enthusiasts launched the activist Kaja Godek: “Poland is an example for Europe and for the whole world “he said breathlessly. mother of two children, one of whom has Down syndrome.
Not far from there, angry women demonstrated, many in black: “Poland is hell for women.” Because the state forces them to give birth to seriously ill children.
The abortion issue is one of many that ideologically divides Polish society into traditionalist and liberal Catholics. Some journalists even talk about a Polish-Polish civil war. And that is likely to get worse, because on Thursday the constitutional court declared an aspect of the abortion law unconstitutional.
“A black day”
After that, abortions are no longer allowed, even if the fetus is severely and incurably damaged. Last year there were officially 1,100 abortions in the Catholic country, 1,074 of them because the fetus was seriously damaged. According to the ruling of the constitutional court, abortions are now only possible after rape or if the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.
The Polish public does not see the toughening of the abortion law primarily as a legal decision of the Constitutional Court, but as a political step by the national-conservative PiS government. It will bring in needy women, it will take them underground or abroad for abortions. Hardening the abortion law will also culturally separate society.
“A black day,” said a feminist. At night, a thousand protesters moved from the city center to the Zoliborz district in front of the house of PiS head and Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The strongman from Poland had just entered crown quarantine there. There were street battles and women’s organizations have also announced demonstrations for Friday night.
Kaczynski’s PiS is in power for a second term. It has brought the constitutional court under control and also provides the president. Under Kaczynski’s leadership, PiS had long resisted the right wing’s call for a tightening of the abortion clause and forwarded the corresponding bills to the committees where they should rot.
Because a restrictive abortion law is unpopular even in Poland: in polls, around half of those surveyed said they should leave previously applicable regulations intact. 28 percent would like liberalization, only 15 would like it tightened. But this minority has a strong ally: the Catholic Church.
He openly supported PiS in all elections. The fact that the constitutional court has now decided to toughen it up at the initiative of 114 PiS deputies probably has to do with the fact that Kaczynski wants to keep the Church on his side. “PiS had to pay its debts,” writes publicist Dominika Sitnicka.
For the abortion to the neighbors
The previous abortion law has been in force since 1997. It allowed abortions in case of rape, danger to the mother and serious harm to the fetus. It was a compromise that left many unsatisfied, but was acceptable to most.
“Until now, a woman had the option of carrying a severely damaged fetus to term,” says Dr. Kaja Filaczynska, who initiated a petition from her colleagues to the constitutional court. But now women are forced to overcome pregnancy. This goes hand in hand with considerable medical risks and could reduce the chances of future motherhood.
The abortion law has already been quite strict compared to Europe. But there are women’s associations and organizations that help. “There is some infrastructure,” says Filaczynska. Experts estimate that between 80,000 and 150,000 Polish women abort each year. There are an unreported number of illegal abortions and many women seek help from their neighbors: “They travel in all directions, to Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany. This is, of course, particularly difficult for poor women and those from small towns. “says Filaczynska.
Bad timing for a “monstrous ideological showdown”
Opponents of the hardening accuse PiS of having helped a radical position to break through in an authoritarian manner, without public debate and without a parliamentary resolution. This is not the right time to conjure a “monstrous ideological showdown,” writes conservative journalist Boguslaw Chrabota. There were 13,000 new corona cases on Thursday. And Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has to appeal to “national solidarity” due to new restrictions on public life.
