On October 22, 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland made a decision that sent women’s rights back years. The tribunal made a ruling that would ban virtually all abortions, stripping a person’s right to their bodily autonomy. In response, millions of people have begun to protest all across the country.
Before the tribunal made its decision, Poland was already known for having some of the most restrictive abortion laws in all of Europe. The Constitutional Tribunal’s recent ruling bans abortions due to fetal abnormalities. The only legal abortions are those in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s health. This recent decision outlaws approximately 98% of those abortions performed in Poland.
Yet removing legal abortion options does not end abortions altogether. Instead, that 98% may be forced to seek dangerous alternatives. The senior research adviser at Amnesty International Esther Major explains, “Legal prohibitions on abortion do not prevent abortion or reduce the rates of abortion; they serve only to damage women’s health by pushing abortions underground or forcing women to travel to foreign countries to access abortion care they need and to which they have a right. Although all women may be affected by this cruel judgment, marginalized groups of women who cannot afford to travel will disproportionately suffer the consequences of the judges’ actions today.”
Many speculate this to be a decision influenced by politics, rather than one made from an independent, nonpartisan perspective. Although meant to be Poland’s check on the legislative branch, the tribunal has been proven to be under the strong influence of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), the right-wing populist party of Poland. A Warsaw law professor, Marcin Matczak, stated about the court’s decision “would not be possible without the previous assault on the rule of law.”
Ever since the ruling party won the majority in 2015, they have continuously attempted to impose stricter abortion laws. In 2016 and 2018, such bans were proposed but never enacted due to nationwide demonstrations opposing them.
The Law and Justice Party could not have chosen a more perfect time to propose such a ban. With a global pandemic as a distraction and their next election years away, this new law would be here to stay. Despite that, the people of Poland are not easily appeased. Following the court’s decision, tens of thousands of protests erupted all across the nation. From Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw, and Krakow, people marched in order to show opposition to the Constitutional Tribunal’s unjust ruling. People are holding sit-ins at religious sites, waving wire hangers to symbolize dangerous abortions, and even dressing up as Handmaids, the subjugated women from the television series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” To this day, protesters and activists are still fighting for their rights in Poland.
“The decision of the constitutional tribunal means freezing the issue for years, accepting that life and dignity of women are less important than life of a fetus,”
- Ms. Norwacka, a lawmaker in opposition to the Law and Justice Party
Sources
Written by: Abigail Mirambel
Edited by: Jamie Suh-Hyun Kim
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