Although the court’s ruling to tighten the country’s already strict laws has not yet been implemented, Polish women are increasingly being forced to travel abroad for abortions, activists said.
The Constitutional Court ruled in October that abortion was illegal even in cases where the fetus had serious abnormalities. About 1000 abortions a year – almost all legal abortion procedures in the country – are performed for this reason.
Justina Vydrasiska of the NGO Abortion Dream Team, which runs the Salah hotline, said the group could already feel the cooling effect of the ruling. There has been an increase in the number of calls on the hotline, including women awaiting the results of fetal abnormality tests and many who are not yet pregnant but fear the verdict.
“They want to find out what choices they have if they get pregnant and find themselves in a state of fetal malformation.” During the Coronavirus epidemic in the minds of the people, the number of calls regarding travel judgments and travel disputes has increased from 20 or 30 per day to around 100.
Surveys show that few polls support stricter abortion bans, but over-the-counter elements in the ruling coalition have long wanted such a move. “We will make sure that even in very difficult pregnancy cases, when the death of a child is certain, it is very distorted, even if it is very distorted,” said Jarosawa Kakaiski, president of the Law and Justice Party (PIS). ., So that the child may be baptized, buried, have a name. “
The ruling sparked strong protests in Warsaw and other cities, much to the astonishment of the government, which twice considered implementing the tribunal’s ruling under the PIS. The government intends to publish the tribunal’s verdicts and pass them into law immediately, but almost two months after the abortion verdict, this has not yet happened.
This uncertainty is also a headache for medical professionals. Many hospitals were not even willing to perform abortions that were legal, and now admissions have become more difficult.
“I heard a story about a medical doctor who was having an abortion and was checking during the day to see if the verdict was published. At the moment the verdict is published, you are committing a crime if you have an abortion, “said Adam Bodner, Poland’s human rights ombudsman.
The Abortion Dream Team, along with many other NGOs, launched a fund last year to help Polish women travel abroad and has since helped more than 250 women travel for abortion, mainly in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain, where second trimester abortion is possible. .
The recent tribunal decision has also inspired people in other neighboring countries to take action.
“There was this energy in the air, we wanted to turn it into a real thing instead of complaining by writing messages on cardboard,” said Jolanta Naukazic, a 28-year-old artist based in Prague. Naukazic and 10 others set up an organization outside the country’s embassies to provide safe abortion access to Polish women, inspired by the atmosphere of protests.
Inspired by Ciosia Besia, a group of Polish women based in Berlin, Germany, who helped them reach abortion, Ciosia Cesia has already given access to 10 poles in the five weeks since its inception, and more are being arranged every day.
In addition to cooperating in clinics, the organization also provides translation services, general funding, and border transport. “Every case is different: one may need advice on which clinic to turn to, while others need finance and help organize the whole process,” Nowzic said.
Taking pills for medical abortion, which can occur during the first trimester of pregnancy, is legal in Poland and is often seen as a better option than traveling for a surgical procedure. But this option is not always available. “A lot of people don’t have a safe place to take a pill, and for some the pill doesn’t work,” Nouvazic said.
Despite the rational difficulties of traveling at the moment, there has been an increase in phone calls from Polish women asking about the logistics of getting an abortion in clinics in the Czech Republic. Some clinics reject poles based on communist-era legislation stating that only permanent residents can perform abortions, although the government has said EU citizens should have equal rights.
In clinics providing services to Polish women, most staff were reluctant to speak in public, both for reasons of legal ambiguity and safety. “We have heard rumors about pro-Polish life groups attacking clinics that enable Poles to have abortions,” said a nurse at one such facility.
“The people who come to us are people who are often afraid to take action in Poland, and often do not even tell their families. Some have already been rejected from Polish hospitals. “
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