By Luke Hurst
May 6, 2022
Europe is feeling the political shockwaves from the US Supreme Court’s proposed reversal of women’s reproductive rights.
Campaigners have been shocked by the leaked opinion, which suggests it is considering overruling the landmark Roe v Wade case which legalised abortion nationwide in 1973.
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
By Liv Klingert
The controversial debate on abortion in Poland has been reignited following the arrival of Ukrainian women refugees who have been victims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Under current restrictive abortion laws, it is uncertain whether women who become pregnant through rape and seek refuge in Poland can still have legal and safe abortions there, De Standaard reported.
Continued: https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/218090/ukrainian-refugees-ignite-abortion-debate-in-poland
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.
By ELENA SÁNCHEZ NICOLÁS
BRUSSELS, Feb 10, 2021
MEPs have condemned the near-total ban on the right to abortion in Poland, following the entry into force of the country's Constitutional Tribunal ruling.
The highly-politicised court initially ruled last October that all abortions for severe and irreversible foetal abnormalities were unconstitutional, limiting the already very restrictive abortion law in line with Roman Catholic doctrine.
Continued: https://euobserver.com/political/150876
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/
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/
Malgorzata Tomczak, Warsaw
November 30, 2020
In the past, the problems of the country’s constitutional court were seen as complex and detached from people’s daily lives. Until now that is, when they started to impact on the most private and sensitive areas of Polish women’s lives.
With its recent legal attempt to put further limits on abortion, the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) has created a constitutional crisis that will be hard to resolve. And its reckless actions are already impacting on Polish women’s lives.
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
By Alexandra Brzozowski and Raffaella Margaryan
Nov 18, 2020
Poland already had one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, and is on the verge of tightening it even further. But a closer look at other European countries shows the trend does not go towards liberalisation either, while at EU level, the European Commission is legally unarmed.
The protest against a strict abortion ban in Poland continues and is now turning into an anti-government movement.
Opposition Seeks Inquiry Commission for Organisations That Dissuade Women from Abortion
By HINA
21 February 2020
ZAGREB, February 21, 2020 - Twenty-two MPs on Friday tabled a proposal to set up an inquiry commission into the financing, work and influence of organisations which consult pregnant women in Croatia in order to prevent quackery and disinformation about abortion.
Independent MP Bojan Glavašević, Sabina Glasovac (SDP) and Vesna Pusić (GLAS) told the press that according to reports in Croatian and foreign media, so-called pregnancy crisis centres were spreading in Europe and Croatia as part of a global coordinated project aimed at disinforming women about their reproductive rights and health as well as introducing additional obstacles to abortion.
Continued: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/41651-abortion
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