Poland’s radical antiabortion law didn’t have the intended effect

By Lee Hockstader, Washington Post
November 29, 2023

WARSAW — A right-wing government in Poland, in league with the Catholic Church and legitimately worried about plummeting birthrates, pushed for the toughest abortion law of any major European country three years ago. The results are now in, providing a telling lesson in unintended consequences.

Across broad swaths of Europe that are graying, antiabortion politicians should think twice if they believe tighter abortion restrictions will help reverse population decline.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/29/poland-abortion-ban-birth-fertility/ (Or https://wapo.st/3Gjq7fU)


Poland’s abortion ban is a test case for the Catholic Church

Poland’s abortion ban is a test case for the Catholic Church
Religious conservatives across Europe will be watching the outcome closely

Agnieszka Graff
April 2, 2018

The crowd was an estimated 55,000 strong — most of the protesters were dressed in black, most of them were young women. They marched through central Warsaw on March 23 to protest against the parliament’s decision to proceed with an almost total ban on abortion.

It had all happened before, in October 2016 — one of this protest’s hashtags was #dejavue. But this time it felt different: angrier, darker, more politically radical, and openly aimed at the Catholic Church. The protests testify not just to the power of the Polish women’s movement, but to a profound change in attitudes. This time it is not just abortion rights that are at issue. Polish women have seen the broader picture.

Continued: https://www.ft.com/content/d3d92b9e-3348-11e8-b5bf-23cb17fd1498