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Poland: government delays new abortion law

2020-11-05T12:20:35.089Z


For weeks tens of thousands in Poland have been protesting against a de facto ban on abortion. The right-wing conservative government is coming under increasing pressure - and is now playing for time.


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Demonstrator in Krakow: "Don't fuck with my freedom"

Photo: Benjamin Furst / imago images / Hans Lucas

The Polish government is delaying the implementation of the controversial new abortion law, which practically prohibits abortion.

Last week the Constitutional Court ruled that women are not allowed to have an abortion even if their child has severe malformations.

The government would have to publish the ruling in an official statement for the regulation to take effect.

But at least so far she has not done that.

Observers believe that the right-wing conservative government wants to buy time to find a compromise.

The discussion is ongoing, said Michal Dworczyk, chief of staff of the prime minister.

"In this difficult situation, which evokes a lot of emotions, it is good to give yourself a little time for dialogue and the development of a new position."

"It is clearly a political decision," quoted the Guardian Anna Wójcik, who conducts research at the Polish Academy of Sciences. "Judgments must be published immediately." The decision not to publish is a legal ploy.

Again and again violent protests

For two weeks tens of thousands of Poles have been demonstrating in several cities against the tightening of abortion law.

"Poland is women's hell", it says on the posters, "This is war" or "PiS off".

The ruling party PiS brought about the ruling by the Constitutional Court and has been campaigning for a tightening of abortion law for years.

The tribunal is now seen as the extended arm of those in power.

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Protests in Poland: The government is losing approval

Photo: Alex Hannam / imago images / PA Images

The constitutional tribunal had banned abortions even if the fetus was seriously and terminally ill.

According to this indication, almost all of the around 1100 legal abortions in the Catholic country were carried out last year.

Abortion is now only permitted if it is rape and poses an imminent threat to the mother's life and health.

Women's associations speak of a de facto total ban.

Poland already has one of the strictest abortion rights in Europe.

The ruling by the Constitutional Court was sharply criticized by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, among others.

Many Polish women are already going abroad to have an abortion.

Experts fear an increase in illegal abortions.

PiS loses approval

After the protests, the ruling PiS party lost massive support.

Nationwide, it only comes to 30 percent in surveys, before the protests the figure was 40 percent.

The pro-government President Andrej Duda has already proposed a compromise regulation that would allow abortions in the case of life-threatening malformations, but would prohibit them in the case of genetic defects such as Down's syndrome.

The proposal was supposed to be discussed in parliament on Wednesday, but the session was postponed.

"They are afraid of the protests," tweeted the opposition member Barbara Nowacka.

It is unlikely that Duda's proposal will be passed.

Observers expect that hardliners in the government as well as protesters will criticize the proposal.

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-11-05

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