Activists on the horror of Poland’s near-total abortion ban

Despite mass protests, global criticism, and already strict abortion laws, the country’s government has rolled back women’s rights even further

1 February 2021
Brit Dawson

Women in Poland right now face the most significant rollbacks on fundamental rights in recent history. Last week (January 27), the country’s right wing government moved to implement a near-total ban on abortion, despite the ruling sparking mass protests and global criticism when it was first declared three months ago.

Pro-choice activists immediately took to the streets and social media, leading the biggest protests in the country’s recent history. In November, after almost two weeks of demonstrations, the government announced that it was delaying the abortion ban. Now, however, it’s been enforced with immediate effect.

Continued: https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/51808/1/activists-on-the-horror-of-poland-near-total-abortion-ban

Solidarity across countries: Perspectives of Polish abortion rights protesters

BY MIRANDA JIANG
Dec 5, 2020

More than 200 people met at San Francisco’s Rincon Park on Nov. 1 to show support for the protests in Poland against the government’s latest abortion restrictions. Right next to the Embarcadero waterfront, face-masked adults and children carried signs emblazoned with red bolts of lightning, the symbol of Poland’s Women’s Strike. On the signs were slogans, most in Polish and some in English, including “San Fran stands with the women of Poland” and “Abort the Patriarchy.”

“This is a peaceful show of support for our country,” said Magdalena Myszka, a Bay Area resident born and raised in Poland. Myszka organized this protest by posting an event on Facebook. The protesters chanted slogans used in the Polish protests, some of which translate to “I think, I feel, I decide” and “This is war.”

Continued: https://www.dailycal.org/2020/12/05/poland-abortion-protests/

Poland further erodes women’s rights in blatant defiance of EU principles

Will Europe sit back and watch?

NOVEMBER 4, 2020
By Eliza Rutynowska and Elena Crespi

Poland’s newly reshuffled Constitutional Tribunal ruled last week that abortion due to fatal or severe foetal impairment is no longer an option. Forcing women to give birth to severely malformed children, even those who have little to no chances of survival is now part and parcel of the Polish Constitution; what few abortion rights remained in the country have essentially vanished.

This travesty of justice was made possible due to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s concerted effort in recent years to compromise democratic institutions, such as the Constitutional Tribunal, and to undermine the rule of law, by chipping steadily away at checks and balances, which are meant to ensure democratic oversight and safeguard people’s rights against state abuse.

Continued: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/poland-further-erodes-womens-rights-in-blatant-defiance-of-eu-principles/

How women’s rights have still been hit despite abortion ban climbdown in Poland

How women’s rights have still been hit despite abortion ban climbdown in Poland
By Chris Harris
Oct 17, 2017

Poland may have kicked a near-total abortion ban into the long grass but women’s sexual and reproductive rights have taken a hit in the last year, campaigners have told Euronews.

Around 100,000 people hit the streets on October 3 last year to protest against moves to outlaw all cases of women terminating their pregnancies.

The civil disobedience – called the Black Protest – forced the government to abandon the proposals

But activists claim women’s rights have still been hit over the last year as the government introduced more subtle changes to discourage abortion.

Continued at source: http://www.euronews.com/2017/10/17/how-women-s-rights-have-still-been-hit-despite-abortion-ban-climbdown-in-poland