Poland marks five years since mass abortion rights protests

22.10.2025

October 22 marks five years since the autumn of 2020, when hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets of more than 600 cities and towns across Poland in the largest demonstrations since the Solidarity movement helped bring down communism in 1989.

Across Poland red flares lit up the night as crowds carrying the lightning-bolt symbol of the Women’s Strike filled the streets. Chants against the Catholic Church and the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party echoed across the country - defining images of outrage over a near-total abortion ban.

Continued: https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7784/Artykul/3597197,poland-marks-five-years-since-mass-abortion-rights-protests

What Arizonans can learn from Brazil’s near-total abortion ban

By Rep. Analise Ortiz
June 13, 2025

This is the powerful translation of Nem Presa, Nem Morta, the name of an advocacy organization that is leading the resistance against anti-abortion laws in Brazil. In a country with a near-total ban, this is more than a name, it is a rallying cry against restrictions that can lead to jail time and death.

I met them, and other activists, on a legislative delegation to Brazil made possible by the State Innovation Exchange and the Women’s Equality Center. Why should a State Senator from Arizona care about abortion policy in Latin America when our state just passed Prop. 139 to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution? Because by strengthening connections between the U.S. and Brazil, we can exchange strategies and deepen our understanding of how to stand in resistance to protect each other across the globe.

Here are four ways:.

Continued: https://coppercourier.com/opinion/opinion-what-arizonans-can-learn-from-brazils-near-total-abortion-ban/

Polish ruling coalition partners clash after speaker delays bills to liberalise abortion law

MAR 6, 2024
Notes from Poland

The left and centre-right wings of Poland’s broad ruling coalition have clashed following a decision by the speaker of parliament to delay the processing of bills aimed at ending the near-total abortion ban introduced under the former government.

On Monday, Szymon Hołownia announced that the abortion bills would not come before parliament until 11 April, four days after local elections take place around Poland. He argued that this was necessary to avoid the legislation becoming a victim of the ongoing election campaign.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/03/06/polish-ruling-coalition-partners-clash-after-speaker-delays-bills-to-liberalise-abortion-law/

06.03.2024

near-total abortion ban

Szymon Hołownia

Third Way party

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz

Arizona, Dominican Republic both grapple with 19th century abortion laws

BY: GLORIA REBECCA GOMEZ
DECEMBER 26, 2023

In Arizona, the state’s highest court is considering whether to restore a near-total abortion ban from 1864, and in the Dominican Republic, women are fighting against an all-out ban from 1884.

The just 20-year difference separating the two laws was striking for Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, who traveled to the Caribbean country earlier this month to learn what awaits women in Arizona if access to abortions is cut off.

Continued: https://www.azmirror.com/2023/12/26/arizona-dominican-republic-both-grapple-with-19th-century-abortion-laws/

26.12.2023

Anna Hernandez

Arizona Abortion Access Act

Human Rights Watch

Jennifer Driver

near-total abortion ban

Our Abortion Stories: ‘I Want Greg Abbott to Look Me in the Eye and Tell Me I Deserve What Happened’

6/29/2023
by VAL DIEZ CANSECO

“It had been a normal day.”
When Terry went to her 15-week ultrasound appointment, she found out her fetus had not developed at all above the neck—there was no head. It was a one-in-a-million abnormality, the specialist told them.

“It was at that point I began to go numb. I kind of shut down. My specialist told me, ‘There’s only one thing that we can do to assure that you walk out of this healthy.’ He recommended that I terminate the pregnancy.”

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/29/abortion-stories-roe-v-wade-5/

29.06.2023

Commentary

abortion stories

Greg Abbott

near-total abortion ban

women's abortion stories

Lawyer unfazed by Poland abortion rights case defeat at ECHR

Polish women challenging Warsaw's abortion laws at the European Court of Human Rights had their cases dismissed, but many more are still to come.

Ella Joyner in Brussels
Jun 8, 2023

A Polish lawyer who oversaw the case of eight women challenging their country’s abortion laws at the European Court of Human Rights told DW she was undeterred after their complaints were deemed inadmissible on Thursday.

"We were quite aware that the court might not agree with us at this point," Kamila Ferenc, a lawyer and vice-president of the Polish Foundation for Women and Family Planning (FEDERA), told DW on the phone.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/lawyer-unfazed-by-poland-abortion-rights-case-defeat-at-echr/a-65862834

European rights court rejects first case by Polish women claiming to be victims of abortion law

JUN 8, 2023
Notes from Poland

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by eight Polish women who claimed to be victims of their country’s recently introduced near-total ban on abortion. Around 1,000 such cases have been submitted to the ECHR, and this is the first time it has ruled on one.

“The court found that the applicants had failed to provide any convincing medical evidence proving that they had been at real risk of being directly affected by [the abortion law],” said the ECHR in a statement announcing today’s decision.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/06/08/european-rights-court-rejects-first-case-by-polish-women-claiming-to-be-victims-of-abortion-law/

Republicans Are Using Exceptions to Sell Their Abortion Bans. It’s a Scam.
Exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies are incredibly hard for pregnant people to actually use—and that’s a feature, not a bug.

By Carter Sherman
April 27, 2023

This week, North Dakota’s governor signed into law one of the country’s most extreme abortion bans. It outlaws almost all abortions—and only allows people to get abortions in cases of rape or incest if they undergo the procedure within the first six weeks of pregnancy.

The ban is, for now, an act of political theater. No one is going to an abortion clinic in North Dakota, because the last clinic in the state moved to Minnesota months ago. But the exceptions in the ban are also likely meaningless. Many people do not even realize that they are pregnant at six weeks, and many sexual assault survivors can take far longer to come forward, if they ever do.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3wvq/republicans-abortion-ban-exceptions

27.04.2023

Opinion

abortion exceptionalism

near-total abortion ban

rape and incest exceptions

Guam Legislature passes abortion ban; governor veto expected

Dec. 16, 2022

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam's Legislature on Friday passed a bill prohibiting most abortions, a measure modeled after a new Texas law that leaves enforcement up to private citizen lawsuits instead of criminal prosecution.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who favors abortion rights, is expected to veto the measure.

Continued: https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Guam-Legislature-passes-abortion-ban-governor-17659802.php

16.12.2022

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News

abortion law reform

Guam Heartbeat Act of 2022

Lou Leon Guerrero

near-total abortion ban

New near-total abortions bans are taking effect in four states this week

Eleven states have outlawed abortion in almost all instances. The change will contribute to growing regional abortion deserts.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
August 25, 2022

Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas will begin enforcing near-total abortion bans Thursday, and a ban in a fifth state — North Dakota — was blocked by a judge the day before it was set to go into effect Friday. So as of this week, 11 states will have outlawed abortion in almost all instances.

Abortions were legal in three of those states before this week, though they were difficult to obtain. After Roe v. Wade was overturned June 24, ending the federal right to an abortion, Idaho and Tennessee began enforcing six-week bans. Oklahoma and Texas have already begun enforcing laws banning abortions, but the laws taking effect Thursday add new legal punishments for people who provide the service.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2022/08/five-abortion-bans-texas-oklahoma-idaho-tennessee-north-dakota/

25.08.2022