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Poland’s strict abortion legislation can be further reduced. A proposal that has been frozen since 2016 is expected to be put to a parliamentary vote this week. Human rights organizations say it is happening now because restrictions related to the coronary arteries make it difficult to demonstrate.
Dozens of women in cars and bicycles gathered to protest in Warsaw on Tuesday afternoon.
When the Law and Justice party four years ago said it wanted to further reduce abortion rights, protesters filled the streets, and the government withdrew the proposal.
Now, when the outside world is focused on the coronavirus outbreak and restrictions are stopping large crowds of people in Poland, the government is making another attempt to enforce the law.
“It is quite obvious that the Polish government is taking advantage of this crisis to push forward far-reaching legislative proposals,” says Hans Linde, president of RFSU in Sweden.
Katarzyna Jezierska, a professor of political science at the University of the West, disagrees that it is an obvious exploitation of the pandemic.
The abortion ban lifted in 2016 is based on a citizens’ initiative in which more than 100,000 signatures forced Parliament to consider the bill. But the so-called “black protests” led to the proposal falling into the “parliamentary freeze”.
– The citizens’ initiative expires in May, which means that the possibility of considering the bill will disappear. Parliament had to remove it from the agenda, says Katarzyna Jezierska.
Regardless of the reason for the vote to be held this week, many say the proposal will be approved. The Law and Justice of the Government Party has a majority in Parliament and President Andrzej Duda supports the proposal.
In that case, not only abortions can be prohibited, but also all forms of sexual information. The law is alleged to aim at stopping pedophilia, and rapes can lead to up to three years in prison.
– You are very concerned that this legislation related to sex education is used against organizations in Poland that currently work with equality and sex education. These organizations are at risk of criminalizing their businesses, says Hans Linde.
Unlike 2016, when between 100,000 and 200,000 people in Poland took to the streets in protest, this time most of the mobilization is done digitally.
On Tuesday afternoon, activists posted photos of themselves in front of a Polish Parliament fund with posters with messages such as “women’s rights are human rights”, “postpone proposals” and “yes to sex education” . The initiative, launched by Amnesty International, is, according to the organization, the world’s first virtual demonstration.
But there were also those who defied the ban on public gatherings and took to the streets. In the capital Warsaw, dozens of activists protested from their cars and bicycles on Tuesday afternoon.
Poland’s current abortion law
Poland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe and abortion is only allowed in cases of rape, incest, if the fetus can be shown to have birth defects or if the mother’s life is threatened. However, even in such cases, it may happen that abortion cannot be performed as medical personnel may refuse with reference to their beliefs.
This restriction on abortion law causes some Polish women to submit requests outside the country to perform abortions.
What Parliament should vote on now is the abortion ban for fetuses that can be shown to have birth defects. But in practice, it would serve as a total ban on abortions since 98 percent of abortions in Poland are performed for that reason.
