{"id":773,"date":"2020-11-12T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T13:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=773"},"modified":"2021-02-23T19:56:53","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T18:56:53","slug":"the-attack-on-abortion-rights-in-poland-just-as-other-european-women-polish-women-have-the-right-to-decide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/773\/the-attack-on-abortion-rights-in-poland-just-as-other-european-women-polish-women-have-the-right-to-decide\/","title":{"rendered":"The attack on abortion rights in Poland: \u201cWe should have the right to choose”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reproductive health rights vary greatly between the Member States, with some countries introducing restrictions to abortion. Last month, the Polish Constitutional Court delayed the implementation of a near-total ban on abortions after an upsurge of protests across the country.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Polish Constitutional Court wants to remove one of the few remaining grounds for legal abortion, by making abortions in cases of birth defects unconstitutional. Poland already had some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. It was only permitted under three circumstances: in case of rape or incest, when the mother’s life is at risk, and in the event of severe and irreversible birth defects. Last year, 1100 pregnancies were legally terminated in Poland.<\/a> 1074 of them were due to severe and irreversible birth defect or an incurable illness. The Constitutional Court\u2019s decision to prohibit further performance of procedures under these circumstances makes it equivalent to a nearly complete ban on abortion in Poland.<\/p>\n Dunja Mijatovi\u0107, the Commissioner for Human Rights, called the Court’s decision “a sad day for women’s rights.”<\/p>\n[aesop_content color=”#746d6d” background=”#ffffff” columns=”1″ position=”none” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off” aesop-generator-content=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Removing the basis for almost all legal abortions in <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Poland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Poland<\/a> amounts to a ban & violates <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HumanRights?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HumanRights<\/a>. Today\u2019s ruling of the Constitutional Court means underground\/abroad abortions for those who can afford & even greater ordeal for all others. A sad day for <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WomensRights?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensRights<\/a>.<\/p>— Commissioner for Human Rights (@CommissionerHR) <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com\/CommissionerHR\/status\/1319273573240893452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote> <img src="data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-wp-preserve="%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fplatform.twitter.com%2Fwidgets.js%22%20charset%3D%22utf-8%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E" data-mce-resize="false" data-mce-placeholder="1" class="mce-object" width="20" height="20" alt="<script>" title="<script>" \/>”]\n Removing the basis for almost all legal abortions in #Poland<\/a> amounts to a ban & violates #HumanRights<\/a>. Today\u2019s ruling of the Constitutional Court means underground\/abroad abortions for those who can afford & even greater ordeal for all others. A sad day for #WomensRights<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Commissioner for Human Rights (@CommissionerHR) October 22, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n[\/aesop_content]\n\n The impact on Polish women<\/strong> Karen Melchior is a Member of the European Parliament for Renew Europe and <\/span>Member of the Committee on Women\u2019s Rights and Gender Equality. She elaborates on the EU influence <\/span>regarding abortion rights and the current restrictions taking place in Poland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Listen below:<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nKrystyna Kacpura is the executive director of the Federation for Women and Family Planning in Poland and has been active in the field of reproductive health and rights for over 20 years. She explains that abortion in Poland has been subject to the political playing field of politicians and the influential Catholic church<\/a>\u00a0for many years. <\/span><\/p>\n