Thousands of poles have protested the Kovid-19 ban in protest of an almost complete ban on abortion, blocking of major roads and bridges, and chanting anti-government slogans.
The demonstrators, some dressed like the characters in “The Handmade Tale”, also disturbed the public and vandalized churches – a rare case of an attack on the Catholic Church, an ally of the government in a fanatical Catholic country.
Protests erupted on Thursday over a ruling tightening one of Europe’s most prohibited abortion laws. But they have increasingly turned into widespread expressions of anger at the right-wing government, accusing protesters of hijacking the judiciary and depriving women and minorities of their rights.
The Prime Minister, Matthews Moravievsky, said on Tuesday that what is happening in public is an act of aggression, attacks, acts of vandalism. “I do not consent to the exercise of the right to adopt values by people, churches and others,” he added, appealing to protesters to refrain from aggressive measures.
Here’s a look at how this issue became a flash point.
What is this protest?
Prior to Thursday’s ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal, Poland allowed termination only for fetal malformations if the woman’s health was at risk or in case of adultery or rape. But in practice, most legal abortions – 1,074 of the 1,100 performed last year – resulted in fetal abnormalities.
However, the advanced court ruling found that abortion for fetal abnormalities violates the constitution – a decision that cannot be appealed.
Nevertheless, this category of abortion represents a small fraction obtained by Polish women. Many are already going abroad for abortions or illegally. Long waits in general hurdles in legal termination and doctors refusing to do them.
Doctors in Poland may refuse to perform legal abortions and refuse to prescribe contraception for religious reasons. And there is a lot of financial and psychological support for the families of children with disabilities, who are left to fend for themselves once the child is born.
In the court’s ruling, the tribunal’s president, Julia Prozilebska, said that by allowing abortion for fetal disorders, “eugenic practices.” Because Poland’s constitution guarantees the safety of human life, he added, termination is tantamount to a “directly prohibited form of discrimination” based on fetal health.
Protesters are demanding that the court reverse itself and a growing number of abortion laws are also being called for liberalization. Protests have spread from cities to towns and villages and women’s groups have found support in some potential corners, including taxi drivers, farmers and coal miners, all of whom have their own complaints against the government.
How does this reflect Polish politics and society?
The ruling law and the judiciary have largely erased the independence of the judiciary, drawing international condemnation. Opponents say the party is now using subordinate courts to achieve what it cannot legally do, which the government denies.
The government has repeatedly tried to tighten the abortion law, but failed to get a vote in parliament. Polls showed that most citizens opposed the new limits and every effort was completed with large-scale demonstrations.
Analysts say given the epidemic and the upcoming election three years later, the timing of the new strategy was right. Instead of trying to pass the law again, right-wing lawmakers asked Poland’s Supreme Court constitutional tribunal to review the law.
But many women say they are being used as pawns in attempts to divert people from controlling the ruling party’s coronavirus epidemic, with cases increasing and hospitals increasingly overwhelmed. In recent months, Poland has become one of the most difficult countries in the world, straining its health care system. The president, Andrej Duda, tested positive on Saturday.
Critics say the ruling Law and Justice Party is bidding on church leaders and right-wing groups, forcing women to choose between having a dangerous illegal abortion, going abroad for an abortion, or giving birth to serious – often fatal children. Health problems.
The governing party, which took power in 2015, presents itself as a defender of traditional, Catholic values, and denounces its opponents as Polish and anti-Christian. At the center of this vision are Polish women as wives and mothers, and women’s rights groups as portrayed as dangerous agents of liberal, Western propaganda.
They have not become the only target of the party. At the height of Europe’s migration crisis, refugees were portrayed by law and justice as a threat to Christian culture – but later agreed to go among the Christians. After the issue subsided, the right-wingers became more focused during recent political campaigns on gay people, painting it as a threat to Polish life and values.
The European Union’s complaints about Poland’s independence curriculum have been seized by law and justice as evidence that Blair is pushing “foreign” ideas that threaten to undermine Poland’s sovereignty.
What sets this protest apart?
Opponents deliberately use abusive slogans to shock people and send a message that well-behaved approaches have not worked. And they have broken the long-standing social taboo against challenging the church.
The Catholic Church, the most influential pillar of Polish society since the fall of communism, has long pressed the government to tighten or eliminate access to abortion.
On Sunday, women’s rights activists took to the streets to protest and disrupt church services across Poland, with anti-government and anti-church banners reading: “This is war,” or “Enough is enough for us,” and ” We should not be victims. “
In some places groups of young men and women confronted the clergy, and protesters painted graffiti on the walls of churches and cathedrals across the country. Since the beginning of the protests, far-right activists have been defending the church and confronting opponents, sometimes using physical force, in response to critics saying there is an alliance between the government, the Catholic Church and far-right groups.
In Konstantin Jeziorna, a leafy suburb of Versailles, a monument to Pope John Paul II was painted red – a one-time uncertain encounter with a national hero.
How do Poland’s abortion laws compare to other countries?
Under communism, Poland and other Soviet bloc states had some of the most liberal abortion laws. Women’s rights officials used Swedes to help them travel to Poland for abortions.
But the country now has one of the richest abortion laws in the world, which was adopted in 1993. The High Court judgment also moves the country away from the mainstream.
Up to a certain point in pregnancy, abortions are performed on demand in almost all of Europe. The United States does, but many states have made it difficult to enter.
On the day of the High Court’s ruling on abortion, the governments of Poland, the United States and many other countries, including Uganda, Hungary, Belarus and Saudi Arabia, signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration, challenging the right to abortion in a statement.
Anatole Magdziers contributed to the report.
