Polish parliament rejects law banning “promotion of abortion”

MAR 8, 2023
Notes from Poland

Parliament has rejected a bill that would have introduced jail terms for “publicly promoting or calling for abortion” or providing information about how women can obtain abortions in Poland or abroad.

While the legislation – which was submitted to parliament as a so-called citizen’s legislative initiative supported by public signatures – was rejected by a large majority of MPs, over half of members of the conservative ruling coalition’s caucus voted either to allow it to proceed or abstained from voting.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/03/08/polish-parliament-rejects-law-banning-promotion-of-abortion/


Polish parliament rejects controversial abortion bill before elections

By Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl
Mar 7, 2023

Parliament rejected a controversial bill that aims to further restrict one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe on Tuesday, with some conservative members of the ruling PiS saying off the record that they did not want the bill to cause a new wave of street protests ahead of the upcoming elections.

The controversial “Abortion is murder” bill was submitted to parliament by popular anti-abortion activist Kaja Godek and her “Life and Family” foundation,  aiming to sanction those publicly promoting abortion in Poland and abroad, as well as those advising and distributing materials on the topic of abortion.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/polish-parliament-rejects-controversial-abortion-bill-before-elections/


Outcry in Poland over abortion law

Two Polish hospitals refused to terminate the pregnancy of an underage rape victim. The case has sparked controversy over the country's restrictive legislation, with women's rights activists insisting it must be eased.

Jacek Lepiarz
February 5, 2023

A scandal is raging in Polish politics and in the media, concering the shocking case of a 14-year-old rape victim. The girl, who is from the Podlaskie region in northeastern Poland and has mental disabilities, was raped by her own uncle and became pregnant as a result. She was unaware of her condition, but her aunt noticed it and tried to help her get an abortion.

Although the girl had written confirmation from the public prosecutor that she was pregnant as the result of a crime, which gave her the right to a legal abortion, two hospitals in the region refused to carry out the procedure. The province of Podlaskie on the Belarusian border is a bastion of the right-wing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has been in power in Poland since 2015.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-outcry-over-abortion-law/a-64586531


Progressives slam Polish far-right’s bid to criminalize support for abortion

Conservative sections in Poland continue their war against women by gearing up to further tighten the ban on abortion and criminalize supporting or promoting it

January 02, 2023
by Peoples Dispatch

Feminists and other progressives in Poland have condemned the efforts by conservative and far-right groups to further criminalize activities that promote or support abortion in the country. On Wednesday, December 28, under the leadership of the Life and Family Foundation (ŻiR) headed by Kaja Godek, a draft bill titled ‘Abortion is Murder’ was submitted to the lower house of the Polish parliament as a citizens’ initiative signed by more than 150,000 people. The ŻiR Foundation demanded that the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party-led government and parliament approve a bill criminalizing activities that promote or provide support to abortion in Poland.

According to the Life and Family Foundation (ŻiR), “the ‘Abortion is Murder’ bill gives prosecutors new tools with which to charge not only individuals who are found aiding and abetting abortion, but also those who organize facilities to develop this aiding and abetting in a systematic way.”

Continued: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/02/progressives-slam-polish-far-rights-bid-to-criminalize-support-for-abortion/


Polish NGO submits a bill proposing jail sentences for providing information about and “inciting” abortion

Notes from Poland
DEC 28, 2022

A foundation run by Poland’s most prominent anti-abortion activist, Kaja Godek, has submitted a citizen’s initiative to the parliament that would further tighten one of the already strictest abortion laws in Europe.

The draft legislation, entitled “Abortion is murder”, would introduce a ban on “public advocacy” as well as “information” on the possibility of terminating a pregnancy. It would also see recognition of “inciting to abortion” as a crime carrying up to eight years in jail.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2022/12/28/polish-ngo-submits-a-bill-proposing-jail-sentences-for-providing-information-about-and-inciting-to-abortion/


UK – Pills in the post: how Covid reopened the abortion wars

As some European countries rolled out ‘telemed’ abortion, others shut down access completely.

by Sarah Hurtes and Daniel Boffey
Wed 21 Apr 2021

Kay, 34, realised her period was late a month into Britain’s lockdown. The coronavirus death count was spiralling across the country. Covid-19 was putting the NHS under unprecedented strain and Boris Johnson had given the British people what he described as “a very simple instruction” in an address to the nation from Downing Street: “You must stay at home.”

A worrying, unsettling time, and Kay, a mother of a six-year-old girl, needed to get hold of a pregnancy test kit. She went online and, two days later, took delivery of the test, learning of a positive result via two pink lines. It was the news she had dreaded.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/pills-in-the-post-how-covid-reopened-the-abortion-wars


Protesters gather after Polish court supports almost total ban on abortion

Curbing access to procedure a long-standing ambition of country's ruling party

Thomson Reuters
Posted: Oct 22, 2020

Protesters gathered across Poland on Thursday after the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that abortion due to fetal defects was unconstitutional, banning the most common of the few legal grounds for ending a pregnancy in the largely Catholic country.

After the ruling goes into effect, abortion will only be permissible in Poland in cases of rape, incest or when a mother's health and life are in danger, which make up only about two per cent of legal terminations conducted in recent years.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/poland-court-abortion-law-1.5773722


In Poland, Abortion Access Worsens Amid Pandemic

In Poland, Abortion Access Worsens Amid Pandemic
Abortions were already difficult to obtain and then came the coronavirus.

By Jessica Bateman, Marta Kasztelan
May 1, 2020

The woman was 21 weeks pregnant when she contacted Abortion Without Borders (AWB), a network of activist groups that advises Polish women on how to access safe terminations. Normally, it would have been relatively simple to book a flight to the United Kingdom, where she could legally access a second-trimester abortion. But the coronavirus outbreak changed everything.

“We got her an appointment, but travel was a different matter,” said Mara Clarke, the founder of Abortion Support Network (ASN), which is part of AWB and helps women obtain abortions overseas. Poland closed its borders and grounded all flights and cross-border public transportation on March 15, meaning the woman would have had to travel to the German border, cross it, and take a train to one of Berlin’s airports.

Continued: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/01/poland-abortion-access-worsens-coronavirus-pandemic/


Abortion battle rages on in Poland despite coronavirus lockdown

Abortion battle rages on in Poland despite coronavirus lockdown

By Anna Noryskiewicz, CBS News
April 27, 2020

Poland's conservative leaders have come a step closer to their goal of further tightening what are already some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.

Abortions are only permitted in Poland in cases of certain fetal abnormalities, rape, incest or a threat to the mother's health. The new legislation, which recently passed a preliminary vote in the lower house of Poland's parliament, would prohibit abortions due to any fatal abnormalities or incurable illnesses of the child.

Continued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-poland-coronavirus-lockdown/


Citizen initiatives on abortion and sex education debated in Parliament

Citizen initiatives on abortion and sex education debated in Parliament

km/ajk/jc
15.04.2020

Two citizen initiatives, on abortion and sex education were debated in Parliament on Wednesday. Both were submitted by conservative pro-life and pro-family groups and both attracted the statutory number of signatures (100,000) needed for such initaitives to be debated. The proposals are supported by the Catholic Church.

Similar proposals in the past have led to sizable street protests. However, the current Coronavirus restrictions on public assembly have led to the protests being conducted online, in cars and from balconies of apartments.

Continued: https://polandin.com/47575354/citizen-initiatives-on-abortion-and-sex-education-debated-in-parliament