Poland: A Year On, Abortion Ruling Harms Women

19/10/2021
International Federation for Human Rights

(Brussels, October 19, 2021) – Women, girls,
and all pregnant people have faced extreme barriers to accessing legal
abortions in the year since a Constitutional Tribunal ruling virtually banned
legal abortion in Poland, 14 human rights organizations said today. Since the
ruling, women human rights defenders have also faced an increasingly hostile
and dangerous environment.

Poland’s authorities should end efforts to undermine reproductive rights and
weaken protections from gender-based violence. They should commit to protecting
women human rights defenders who have faced ongoing threats and attacks since
the October 2020 decision. Escalating death threats since October 9 against
Marta Lempart, co-founder of Ognopolski Strajk Kobiet (All-Poland Women’s Strike)
and a target of repeated threats for leading demonstrations supporting legal
abortion and women’s rights, led to her police protection during public
appearances.

Continued: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/poland/poland-a-year-on-abortion-ruling-harms-women


Poland: Escalating Threats to Women Activists

Human Rights Watch
March 31, 2021

(Berlin) – Bomb and death threats targeting at least seven groups in Poland for supporting women’s rights and the right to abortion are disturbing reminders of escalating risks to women’s human rights defenders in the country, Human Rights Watch, CIVICUS, and International Planned Parenthood Federation-European Network (IPPF-EN) said today.

The authorities should urgently investigate, protect the women targeted and hold those responsible for the threats accountable. Polish officials should also counter abusive misinformation campaigns targeting activists.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/31/poland-escalating-threats-women-activists


Four reasons why Poland’s war on abortion should scare you

This is not just ‘Poland being Poland’. These actions are illegal, inhumane and could spread across Europe – and this is just the beginning.

Neil Datta
3 February 2021

Poland’s near-total abortion ban came into effect last week when it was published in the country’s official government gazette. Polish hospitals and medical practitioners are no longer allowed to carry out an abortion in the case of a foetal anomaly. Such cases made up the great majority of terminations performed in the country, which, even before the new ban, already had the harshest abortion law in Europe – now, abortions are only permitted in cases of rape and incest and when the mother’s life or health are endangered. 

What’s happening in Poland right now shouldn’t be seen as merely typical behaviour by the Polish state. This is not just ‘Poland being Poland’. These actions are illegal, inhumane and could infiltrate the rest of Europe – and this is just the beginning.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/four-reasons-why-polands-war-on-abortion-should-scare-you/


Poland hammered on women’s rights in EU debate

By ANDREW RETTMAN
BRUSSELS, 26. NOV, 2020

The European Commission has urged Poland not to abandon a treaty against domestic violence, as Warsaw continues to drift further from EU norms.

"The Istanbul Convention is the gold standard in terms of policy in this area," equality commissioner Helena Dalli said in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday (25 November), referring to a 2011 international treaty.

Continued: https://euobserver.com/justice/150197


How the handmaid became an international protest symbol

How the handmaid became an international protest symbol

By Chris Bell BBC News
27 July 2018

Dozens of women march in silence through a rainy cityscape. Heads bowed, dressed in red cloaks and white bonnets, it looks like a scene from Gilead, the theocratic patriarchy Margaret Atwood created in dystopian 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale.

But this is Buenos Aires. It is Wednesday, and the women involved are calling for abortion to be decriminalised in a country where complications arising from illegal abortion are a leading cause of maternal death.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-44965210


Malta: New law would decriminalise abortion in some cases, PD warns

New law would decriminalise abortion in some cases, PD warns
Government denies that that is the case

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The Democratic Party has warned that a Bill currently before parliament could decriminalise abortions in Malta if there is the prior and informed consent of the woman involved.

The party was commenting on the Gender-based Violence and Domestic Violence Bill, which will see Malta adopting the Council of Europe Convention on prevention and combating violence against women.

Continued at source: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180102/local/new-law-would-decriminalise-abortion-in-some-cases-pd-warns.667030