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On October 30, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of the Polish capital, Warsaw, to denounce the decision of the Constitutional Court, which could soon almost completely ban abortion in the country.
The rally, the largest in decades, was peaceful, but activists tried to attack far-right groups.
Poland’s abortion laws are already among the strictest in Europe, but the Constitutional Court ruled on October 22, after being approached by the most conservative representatives of the ruling right, that the extraction of malformed fruit was unconstitutional.
These procedures are more common in Catholic Poland. And although President Andrzej Duda, having felt the public outrage, has already proposed a new softer bill, the Court’s decision is likely to take effect soon.
As soon as it is published in the Official Gazette, only abortions in cases of rape and incest, as well as when the life of the mother is threatened, will no longer be prohibited in Poland.
On October 30, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of the Polish capital, Warsaw.
According to Al Jazeera, the drama in Poland is closely watched by feminist and women’s rights organizations around the world, who claim that this Eastern European country is just one field in the global war against women’s rights.
Observers are also interested in the fact that, as it turned out, in Poland, one of US President D. Trump’s personal attorneys, Jay Sekulow, is contributing to initiatives aimed at restricting women’s right to safe abortions. and legal. Why do you care about Polish women?
VIDEO: In Poland, the decision to ban abortion even in the case of birth defects: mines fight for women’s rights in protests
Hundreds of millions of dollars
Seculow defended Trump through impeachment of the latter, and now joins a team of lawyers trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election.
But he is also the lead attorney for the American Center for Justice and Justice (ACLJ), an ultra-conservative group. The group has spent tens of millions of dollars around the world on various campaigns against women’s rights and the LGBT community.
“Reuters” / “Scanpix” nuotr./Jay Sekulowas
The Open Democracy portal announced in Octoberthat American Christian organizations, many of which are associated with the Trump administration, have already donated at least $ 280 million to “dark money” campaigns. dollars Most of the money goes to Europe.
These groups operate in secret and do not reveal who is guarding them. The ACLJ, represented by J. Sekulow, is not spending any more money anywhere else in Europe.
And in Poland, just before the Constitutional Court ruled on abortion, the organization presented judges with legal arguments about why abortion should be prohibited in cases of fatal fetal malformations.
Converted in Europe to prevent it from spreading to the US.
Polish Monika, who underwent an abortion in February after learning that her fetus was malformed and would have no chance of survival, now says she would be in a “tragic situation” if the Constitutional Court had announced its decision a few months earlier.
“The right to abortion in cases like mine refers to physical and mental health. After a court decision of this type, mothers will suffer anguish when they will be forced to give birth and watch their babies die, ”says Monika.
The pressure from activists, as mentioned, has already paid off some fruits: A. Duda stated that he believes that women need the right to abortion in case of birth defects.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Andrzejus Duda
And the ruling Law and Justice Party has decided to postpone the implementation of the Court’s decision; there is time for dialogue. It is true that some hospitals no longer admit women who wish to have an abortion.
For their part, both the ACLJ and another Christian movement, the Alliance for Freedom (ADF), praise the supposed historic decision and call on Poles to celebrate.
Several ADF staff members have worked and are working for the Trump administration, and the organization’s head, Michael Farris, attended the swearing-in ceremony for Trump’s judge, Amy Coney Barrett, at the White House.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Amy Coney Barrett
Together, the ACLJ and the ADF have spent at least € 30 million in Europe since 2007 to combat women’s rights through various campaigns and in court. Dollars. He also fought the Trump presidency, so he hopes to remain active even after he leaves the White House.
Critics say that these fundamentalist organizations operate on a strictly patriarchal basis and fight feminism. These groups oppose not only the right to abortion, but also the use of contraception and divorce.
ADF lawyers have said they are fighting in European courts to prevent “bad precedents from spreading in Europe and on this continent and later in America.”
In Poland at least, activists have been expecting similar attacks on women’s rights and have already created the Aborto Sin Fronteras network. For almost a year, this network has been helping Polish women who have decided not to give birth to abortions abroad safely and legally.
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