In October 2020, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, consisting mainly of judges appointed by the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, outlawed abortion on the grounds of foetal defects, de facto banning pregnancy termination in the country except in certain extreme cases.
The ruling sparked nationwide protests, which in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic gathered 100,000 in Poland’s capital Warsaw at the height of the demonstrations on October 30, 2020.
Women less willing to have children: survey
A recent study by pollster United Surveys has revealed that for some 52 percent of respondents the abortion ban played a part in a decision against having children, marking an increase of 7 percentage points from 2021.
Sixty-seven percent of women polled this month declared they were less willing to procreate, compared to 57 percent last year.
According to the survey, 92 percent of women and 76 percent of men would agree to an abortion if the mother’s life were in danger.
Meanwhile, in the case of a threat to the mother’s health, 76 percent of women and 61 percent of men said they would approve of an abortion.
Thirty-one percent of Poles are in favour of abortion on demand, 8 percentage points more than in 2020, the survey showed.
Abortion still an explosive issue
Around 78,000 women have terminated their pregnancy in the last two years with the assistance of an NGO called Abortion Without Borders, according to data cited by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.
A vast majority of the women took the abortion pill, while some had to travel abroad for termination, where they received support from foreign NGOs or Poles living outside of their country, Gazeta Wyborcza reported.
Meanwhile, since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, some 1,500 Ukrainians have come into contact with organisations helping women seeking abortion access, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna has reported.
Under existing law, abortion in Poland is allowed only in cases of rape and incest or when the mother’s life is threatened.
Last year saw the death of a 30-year-old woman, who died from septic shock after doctors held off terminating her 22-week pregnancy even though the foetus had no chance of survival, according to a report.
Yet again thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against the abortion ban, blaming the ruling party for putting women in danger.
In January, another pregnant woman died of complications. Her family said she had to carry a dead foetus for a week because a hospital refused to remove it, fearing that an abortion would harm its twin.
The victim's family wrote in an appeal that those in power “have blood on their hands,” according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
Ruling party politicians rejected claims that the country's abortion regulations were to blame for the death, saying it was caused by medical error.
(pjm/gs)
Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, TVP Info, Gazeta Wyborcza