The Limitation of Abortion Rights in Poland

Written By: Leela

Edited By: Happy

In the past week the Polish judicial branch has called for an immediate ban of all abortions preformed on the basis of congenital birth defects. The decision has caused an effective and almost total ban on abortions in the country, and in response Poland is seeing its largest political protest since the days of communism in the 1980s. Previously, an abortion could be performed under three criteria: in the case that the pregnancy would put the woman’s life at risk medically, in the case of birth defects or in the case that the fetus is the result of incest or rape. However, the imposed court ruling will significantly reduce the number of abortions in Poland one looks at the statistical research on abortion access in the country. 98% of all abortions preformed in Poland last year were in the case of birth defects.

In response to this major setback for Polish left-wingers nearly half a million people have gathered around the country in Warsaw, Poznac, Jasglow, and other cities. So far there have been 400 demonstrations and counting. As a religiously homogeneous country, Poland is regarded as a Catholic stronghold in Eastern Europe with over 90% of the population proclaiming a belief in Roman Catholicism. Despite their religious affiliations, abortion has become a hotly contested subject for the country. The role of the church in government has been increasingly questioned due to the polarization of the political left and right-wing under the current government administration, which has also changed rulings based on the protection of LGBTQ+ persons and refugees.

The pressure from the populus has been so strong that the right-wing government has now thrown their support behind an amended draft, which would include lethal birth defects as grounds to abortion but deny abortion rights if the defects were not lethal. While the efforts of the populus to reverse this decision have not been fully realized, the fact remains that within 5 days of the ruling they have made enough progress for the government to understand and amend their initial change is proof that peaceful protests can lead to meaningful change.

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Antonia Mortensen and Laura Smith-Spark, C., 2020. Poland's Biggest Protests In Decades Stand Against Abortion Ban. [online] CNN. Available at: <https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/31/europe/poland-abortion-protests-scli-intl/index.html> [Accessed 4 December 2020].

Welle, Deutsche. “Poland: Protesters Stage Biggest Abortion Rights Rally yet | News | DW | 30.10.2020.” DW.COM, Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com), https://www.dw.com/en/poland-protesters-stage-biggest-abortion-rights-rally-yet/a-55449033. Accessed 5 Dec. 2020.