For the time being, the Polish government has pledged not to tighten abortion laws.
Since
2015, the topic of abortion has been at the heart of the fight between
pro-choice and women's rights activists in Poland and the conservative government's
repeated attempts, backed by the Catholic church, to tighten the law governing
abortion terminations.
According
to recent sources, the divisive issue will be put to rest in Europe's most
religious country, at least for the time being, and will not be pursued by the
ruling Law and Justice party, which is already under pressure and in upheaval
on multiple fronts.
According
to the Polish administration, there will be no changes to the abortion law
before November 2019.
Last
Monday, Poland's deputy prime minister, Jaroslow Gowin, stated that the
government will not take any steps to tighten abortion regulations during the
current legislative term, which runs through November 2019.
This
announcement comes after local allegations that PiS head and de facto leader of
Poland Jaroslaw Kaczynski advised his party members in a closed-door meeting
that they should not try to push the abortion issue at this time. Local media
indicate that Kaczynski asked Law and Justice MPs to put abortion on hold for
now, and gave them certain guidelines and instructions to follow ahead of next
year's elections, citing individuals who leaked information about the private
meeting to the Polish news agency.
“Black
Friday” protests earlier this year.
Since
taking power in 2015, the ruling PiS party, which has deep ties to the Catholic
church and ultra-conservative circles, has attempted to limit the circumstances
in which women can terminate their pregnancy on many occasions. Currently,
Poland has one of the harshest abortion laws in Europe, allowing it only in
three circumstances: when the mother's health is in jeopardy, when the
pregnancy is the consequence of rape or incest, or when the foetus is abnormal.
Thousands
of people marched through Warsaw and other Polish cities in March to protest
the government's plan to tighten abortion regulations. The law, which was
subsequently dropped due to public outcry, made it illegal to have an abortion
in the third case (serious and irreversible damage to the foetus), which
accounts for roughly 95% of all legal abortions today.
Opponents
of the bill, which amounted to a near-total prohibition, claimed it would drive
many women to get illicit abortions, which are already more common than legal
ones (from 10.000 to 150.000, compared to less than 2.000 legal terminations,
according to estimates). Many Polish women come to Germany to have their
pregnancies terminated.
“A
black day for Polish women”
The
policy, which was presented by hardline conservative groups that claimed that
most women abort their pregnancy once their kid is diagnosed with Down's
Syndrome, has raised serious concerns among human rights organisations and
foreign observers. Polish parliamentarians were encouraged to reject the bill
by experts from the Council of Europe and the United Nations. Preventing women
from accessing safe and legal abortion treatment jeopardises their human
rights, said Nils Muiznieks, the Council's human rights commissioner.
According
to Krystyna Kacpura, executive director of the Federation for Women and Family
Planning, this is a black day for Polish women. Polish women will perish if the
bill is passed. We are treated as if we are unneeded; we are only there to give
birth, and if we give birth to a really ill child, we are left to raise the
child alone.
This
isn't simply a text, the Stop Abortion group countered. Every day, this law
affects the lives of three people. We will work to ensure that even in
difficult pregnancies, when a kid is certain to die, strongly disfigured, mothers
end up giving birth so that the infant can be baptised, buried, and given a
name, Kaczynski said at the time.
Polish
protesters used the hashtag déjavu as one of their rallying cries, marching to
the tune of chants like "My uterus" is not your chapel. This wasn't
the first attempt to curtail their rights. Read our interview at the time of
the protests to learn how many Polish women reconcile their Catholic religion
with liberal positions on subjects like abortion.
Protests
against a near-total ban erupted in 2016 in large numbers.
This
year's bill's proposed revisions were less restricted than those suggested in
2016, which might have resulted in a total prohibition except in circumstances
where the mother's life was at risk. However, after significant protests, the
proposal was cancelled as well.
Despite
the Catholic church's initial support, bishops soon distanced themselves from
the measure, which was not sponsored by the ruling Law and Justice party but
rather stemmed from a citizens' initiative that amassed nearly half a million
signatures. "Abortion will certainly not be banned when the woman is the
victim of rape or if her health is in danger," Jaroslaw Gowin, who was
already deputy Prime Minister at the time, had tried to reassure women, saying,
"abortion will certainly not be banned when the woman is the victim of
rape or if her health is in danger."
The
legalisation of abortion has been a long-standing topic in Polish society.
"It
is often believed in the west that, because Poland is a Catholic country,
abortion restrictions must be universally supported," the Financial Times
noted. This is not the case. In January, 37% of Poles supported the current
abortion law being liberalised, while 43% backed the status quo. Only 15% of
those polled supported a total ban."
This
growing opposition to stricter abortion restrictions is also linked to a shift
in Poland's attitude toward the church, whose reputation and moral authority
have been tarnished by its close ties to politicians, as well as recent sex and
abuse scandals. Only 30% of Poles believe the church is neutral, according to a
June 2017 poll.
Since
2015, PiS has used various means to limit women's access to abortions: it cut
funds for IVF treatment and introduced a bill, which was signed by the
president, requiring women to obtain a doctor's prescription before using the
contraceptive pill.
Pro-choice
activists, on the other hand, are pushing back. Despite the fact that it was
rejected by MPs before reaching the committee stage, lawmakers had to consider
a plan to liberalise abortion regulations earlier this year, which would allow
abortions until the 12th week and improve access to medical care, emergency
contraception, and sex education.
All
indications imply that, while the issue may have been resolved, for the time
being, it is only a matter of time before it resurfaces.