- Title: Proposed abortion ban splits opinion in Poland
- Date: 5th April 2016
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (APRIL 3, 2016) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PROPOSED TIGHTENING OF ABORTION LAWS GATHERED IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT ORGANISERS TALKING FROM STAGE CROWD WITH BANNERS BANNER READING (Polish): "WOMEN'S HELL CONTINUES" BANNERS READING (Polish): "RESPECT THE MIND AND DIGNITY OF A WOMAN" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATION ORGANISER FROM THE "RAZEM" PARTY, JAKUB DANECKI, SAYING: "The Polish government right now has given support to a terrible and barbaric act that will totally ban abortion in Poland and also make it a criminal offence for the women who not only undertake an abortion but also just have miscarriage and this might mean persecution for them and this is a completely barbaric act and we cannot allow this to happen in the European Union." PEOPLE CHANTING (Polish): "THIS LAW IS LAWLESS" BANNER READING (Polish): "HANDS AWAY FROM WOMEN" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR, MARTA NOWAK, SAYING: "Basically, the abortion law in Iran is more liberal than this new project, so we have to protest." PEOPLE HANGING COAT HANGERS ON TREE PEOPLE SIGNING PETITION PEOPLE HANGING COAT HANGERS ON TREE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR, PAULINA ANTONIEWICZ, SAYING: "I think what's going on right now is just too much. It's just too much, I think we are fighting for our basic rights, so we have to fight for it and we cannot let fanatics to take our rights."
- Embargoed: 20th April 2016 14:20
- Keywords: Poland abortion Law and Justice Catholic Church PiS
- Location: WARSAW AND GDANSK, POLAND
- City: WARSAW AND GDANSK, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0014C3CYEX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Poland's already restrictive law on abortion may be further tightened to include a complete ban on pregnancy terminations after a call by Polish Catholic bishops and with the backing of the ruling conservatives, sparking protests by pro-choice advocates.
On Sunday (April 3), thousands attended a rally outside parliament in Warsaw to protests the ban.
Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union.
Official statistics show only several hundred abortions are performed every year, but pro-choice campaigners say underground abortions are very common.
"The Polish government right now has given support to a terrible and barbaric act that will totally ban abortion in Poland and also make it a criminal offence for the women who not only undertake an abortion but also just have miscarriage and this might mean persecution for them and this is a completely barbaric act and we cannot allow this to happen in the European Union," an organiser of the demonstration from the left-wing "Razem" (Together) party, Jakub Danecki, said, voicing fears that the proposed legislation could lead to wider interpretations if passed. In its current form, the proposal states that as soon as an egg is fertilised it becomes a child, which it would become criminal to remove.
Chanting "This law is lawless" and "Keep your hands off the uterus", the protesters waved wire coat hangers, a crude pregnancy termination tool widely seen as a grim symbol of the abortion underground.
"Basically, the abortion law in Iran is more liberal than this new project, so we have to protest," one demonstrator, Marta Nowak, said.
The debate around reproductive rights has been building up for months. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in October, plans to tighten regulations to bring them into line with the Catholic Church's teachings, infuriating liberals and women's rights activists.
"I think what's going on right now is just too much. It's just too much, I think we are fighting for our basic rights, so we have to fight for it and we cannot let fanatics to take our rights," demonstrator Paulina Antoniewicz said.
Poland currently allows terminating pregnancy only at an early stage and when it threatens the life or health of the mother, when the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped or when pregnancy originates from a crime, for example rape or incest.
In a letter read out in churches across the country on Sunday, but made public earlier this week, Polish bishops called for legislative action to tighten the 1993 regulation.
"…Catholics' position on this is clear, and unchangeable: one needs to protect every person's life from conception to natural death," they said. "We ask the lawmakers and the government to initiate the legislation."
Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told reporters earlier this week that as a Catholic, he had to follow the bishops' call. While he would not force his party to vote for a ban in parliament, he was "convinced that a vast majority of the caucus, or perhaps all of it, will back the proposal."
Polityka Insight think tank analyst, Wojciech Szacki, said on Tuesday (April 5) that the Catholic Church's decision to come out with the letter while a conservative party is in power rather than in previous years, comes from the leverage it has on Law and Justice leadership.
"It's the [Catholic] Church that saw the chance of tightening the ban of abortion in Poland and it decided to put some pressure on Law and Justice party so that it could pass it in parliament because it has the single majority. So, in theory Law and Justice might be able to pass the bill, so that we could have the most strict anti-abortion law in the European Union," Szacki said, adding that support for the bill might cost the party voters and breathe new life into Poland's new generation left.
"This party [Law and Justice] is still supported by around 20 percent of the centrist voters and if it lost them because of its support for the anti-abortion law, it would translate into loss of 3 to 4 percentage points in the polls, but it would also consolidate opposition, give some life to the left, basically, we might see a beginning of some very dangerous process for Law and Justice," he said.
PiS plans to end state funding for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and reinstate a prescription requirement for "morning after" emergency contraceptive pills.
The party has a majority in parliament, and Kaczynski's influence means that the party's lawmakers tend to follow his cue. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo also expressed support for a ban.
On social media, a number of films show people walking out of Sunday mass in Churches around Poland, in a sign of protest against the proposed ban.
According to data released by the Poland's Central Statistical Office, GUS, 92,8 percent of Poles are Catholics, but less than 50 percent attend church on a regular basis. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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