Hundreds of Polish women on Monday protested a proposal that would ban abortion in cases of fetal anomalies and when the fetus is not viable, AP/ABC News reports (Gera, AP/ABC News, 10/24).
Background
In 1993, Poland enacted a law that bans abortion care except when the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, when there are fetal anomalies or when the pregnancy is the result of a crime, such as rape or incest. The law is one of the most restrictive in Europe. In addition, according to advocates, women who qualify for abortion care often face difficulty finding a willing provider in the country.
Recently, Poland's conservative government, supported by the Catholic Church, has been pushing a measure that would impose a near total abortion ban. Under the bill, anyone who knowingly induces an abortion would have faced up to five years in prison. The measure included a limited exemption for physicians and pregnant women in cases where the procedure is intended to save a woman's life.
Earlier this month, following widespread rallies in Poland and other countries, Polish lawmakers voted 352-58 to reject the proposed changes. In addition, support for abortion rights in Poland appears to have grown following the recent activism. Recent polling finds "near-overwhelming" opposition to the proposed ban as well as growing support for easing the existing restrictions.
However, last week, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chair of the country's Law and Justice party, said his party is working to ban abortion care "even [in] cases of very difficult pregnancies, when the [fetus] is certain to die, very deformed." He indicated that abortion would remain legal when the woman's health or life was endangered by the pregnancy (Women's Health Policy Report, 10/17). According to Reuters, Kaczynski also suggested the ban would be enforced via financial incentives rather than criminal penalties (Goettig, Reuters, 10/24).
In response to the comments, about 300 abortion-rights supporters rallied outside of Kaczynski's house and scheduled nationwide rallies for Oct. 23-24 (Women's Health Policy Report, 10/17).
Latest protests
For the nationwide protests, abortion-rights advocates rallied in Warsaw, Gdansk, Lodz, Wroclaw, Poznan and other cities and towns across Poland (AP/ABC News, 10/24). The Nationwide Women's Strike organized the rallies, which protested the Law and Justice party and the Roman Catholic Church (Reuters, 10/24).
According to AP/ABC News, the grassroots movement behind the rallies has expanded their focus to include other reproductive and sexual health rights. During the rallies this week, advocates signed a petition not only challenging the proposed abortion restrictions, but also calling for better sex education, improved contraceptive access and an end to the Catholic Church's "interference" in politics and public education.
One abortion-rights supporter, Dorota Szumilak, said she signed the petition because she sees the abortion ban proposal as part of a broader effort to "restrict women's rights" (AP/ABC News, 10/24).
