Police at the hospital: Abortion battle heats up in Poland

The case of a humiliating police operation in response to a woman who’d taken an abortion pill has intensified debate over whether Poland’s abortion laws have gone too far.

Jacek Lepiarz
July 23, 2023

The leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, likes to surround himself with women at campaign events. He courts them in the old Polish manner with a kiss on the hand, but such gestures belie the fact that his right-wing nationalist party is actually at war with the country's women.

An ever closer alliance between the Polish government and the Catholic Church has led to a radical tightening of abortion laws in recent years. In 2020, the PiS-controlled Constitutional Court removed the risk of serious fetal malformation as a condition allowing for legal abortion, creating a climate of fear and mistrust among doctors and women.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/police-at-the-hospital-abortion-battle-heats-up-in-poland/a-66319325

Not one more’ woman can fall victim to Poland’s abortion laws

Women must be able to count on the EU to protect them — especially when their own governments are the ones endangering their lives.

BY ROBERT BIEDROŃ
DECEMBER 31, 2022
(Robert Biedroń is a member of the European Parliament and chair of the FEMM Committee on women’s rights and gender equality.)

During the Cold War, women from Western Europe would travel behind the Iron Curtain to access free and legal abortion services in Poland. However, the tables have since turned.

For the last 30 years, Polish women have been subject to increasingly restrictive abortion laws, culminating in the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, which introduced a near-total abortion ban in 2020, leaving them with fewer sexual reproductive health rights than in fundamentalist states like Iran.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/women-victim-poland-abortion-laws/

Poland’s de facto abortion ban risks lives, says MEP

By Clara Bauer-Babef and Eleonora Vasques | EURACTIV.com
Nov 18, 2022

While technically allowed in some cases, abortion in Poland may as well be forbidden, putting women’s lives at risk, said Robert Biedron, EU lawmaker and leader of the Polish opposition party Nowa Lewica on Thursday (17 November).

Two years ago, Poland’s constitutional court approved a highly-restrictive new law that de facto banned abortion. Only 107 legal abortions were performed in 2021, approximately 90% less than in previous years, according to figures published by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/polands-de-facto-abortion-ban-risks-lives-says-mep/

Women call for tougher EU stance on Poland’s abortion laws

At least six women have died in Poland after doctors refused to terminate their pregnancies due to the constitutional court’s ruling on abortions.

By Priyanka Shankar
Published On 18 Nov 2022

Brussels, Belgium – Fighting for justice and women’s rights in Poland has become an integral part of Barbara Skrobol’s life since September 22, 2021.

This was the day her sister-in-law, Izabela Sajbor, died of sepsis at a hospital in southern Poland after doctors refused to terminate her pregnancy after finding foetal defects, due to Poland’s stringent abortion rules.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/11/18/women-call-for-tougher-eu-stance-on-polands-abortion-laws

Poland abortion ban victim’s family says ‘nobody cared about her life’

By Isabel da Silva
Updated: 18/11/2022

The family of a Polish woman that died due to Poland's restrictive rules on abortion have spoken out about her ordeal.

Izabela Sajbor, 30, died of septic shock last year when she was 22 weeks pregnant.

Thousands took to the streets to protest the victim of the country's near-total abortion ban, which was approved in October 2020.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/11/17/nobody-cared-about-her-life-family-of-polish-abortion-ban-victim-speak-out

By Isabel da Silva
Updated: 18/11/2022

The family of a Polish woman that died due to Poland's restrictive rules on abortion have spoken out about her ordeal.

Izabela Sajbor, 30, died of septic shock last year when she was 22 weeks pregnant.

Thousands took to the streets to protest the victim of the country's near-total abortion ban, which was approved in October 2020.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/11/17/nobody-cared-about-her-life-family-of-polish-abortion-ban-victim-speak-out

EU parliament condemns Polish abortion law

The European Union parliament has condemned Poland’s recent near-total ban on abortions and called on the Polish government to make sure it no longer leads to the death of pregnant women

By The Associated Press
11 November 2021

BRUSSELS -- The European Union’ parliament on Thursday condemned Poland’s recent near-total ban on abortions and called on the Polish government to make sure it no longer leads to the death of pregnant women.

The condemnation came following news that a woman died of septic shock in her 22nd week of pregnancy after doctors failed to perform an abortion and waited for the fetus to die.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-parliament-condemns-polish-abortion-law-81108976

11.11.2021

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

Poland’s abortion ruling focus of debate in EU parliament

by VANESSA GERA, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted Feb 9, 2021

WARSAW, Poland — Most European Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday lashed out at Poland’s near-total abortion ban Tuesday, with several lawmakers arguing it was a fundamental violation of women’s rights.

Even though some praised authorities in Warsaw for what they called a defence of Christian values and human life, many in the major political groups were critical of the measure in the staunchly Roman Catholic nation.

Continued: https://www.news957.com/2021/02/09/polands-abortion-ruling-focus-of-debate-in-eu-parliament/

09.02.2021

Alternative for Germany

Law and Justice party

MEPs condemn Poland’s near-total abortion ban

Lawmakers tried to put pressure on Warsaw in parliamentary debate.

BY MAÏA DE LA BAUME
February 9, 2021

MEPs on Tuesday condemned Poland's almost total ban on abortion and called on the European Union to step up its fight against what they see as more backsliding on fundamental rights in the country.

Last month, Poland's top constitutional court published its reasoning on a verdict that tightened the country's already tough abortion laws. The verdict means abortions will be permitted only in cases of rape, incest and when a mother's life is endangered. The initial court ruling, issued in October, stated that abortions for reasons of fetal abnormality violate the constitution, which effectively banned most abortions in the country.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/mep-condemn-poland-abortion-ban/

As PiS turns topic taboo, feminists get Poland talking sex

As PiS turns topic taboo, feminists get Poland talking sex
As Poland shifts sharply to the right on sex education and women's reproductive rights, a feminist organization is fighting back with a campaign to get women talking. It's a start, one of SexEdPl's leaders tells DW.

Date 18.11.2017
Author Jo Harper

Barbara Baran, one of the main organizers of Poland's largest feminist Facebook group, recently launched SexEdPl, an educational campaign to explain safe sex to young Poles.

As the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) government plans to take Poland out of the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and education reforms shunt sex education off the curriculum, Baran believes that the time is ripe for a conversation about matters sexual in the deeply Catholic country.

Continued at source: http://www.dw.com/en/as-pis-turns-topic-taboo-feminists-get-poland-talking-sex/a-37643331