In Poland, abortion will also be prohibited in the case of a malformed fetus

In Poland, the abortion law will become even more restrictive. The Warsaw Constitutional Court upheld an appeal filed by 119 deputies, mostly from the ruling Law and Justice (Pis) party, and ruled that termination of pregnancy in the event of fetal malformation or disease is “incompatible” with the fundamental law of the state. and therefore unconstitutional.

In the country, abortion will now be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or in case of danger to the life and health of the mother, and this means that it will practically never be allowed. In 2019, according to official data, a total of 1,110 abortions were registered in Poland, 1,074 of which were decided after the discovery of malformations or irreversible pathologies of the fetus.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights said this is “a sad day for women’s rights”. “Eliminating the basis for almost all legal abortions in Poland amounts to a ban and violates human rights,” Dunja Mijatovic wrote on Twitter. “Putting the right foot on the issue of abortion rights in Poland, in the midst of an uncontrolled pandemic, is worse than cynicism, it is political mischief,” the former Polish Prime Minister and current President of the People’s Party wrote on Twitter. European (EPP), Donald Tusk. The former leader of his own party, Civic Platform (Po), Grzegorz Schetyna, added that further limiting Poland’s already restricted right to abortion will create “hell for Polish women.”

Many women, for or against abortion, had demonstrated in front of the Warsaw Court, where most of the judges were appointed by Pis. Women’s rights groups estimate that between 80,000 and 120,000 Polish women attempt abortions abroad, including many who may qualify for a domestic legal procedure, due to the heavy stigma surrounding the problem in the strongly Catholic nation. .