In Poland, abortion becomes almost illegal -

20 Minutes

Thousands of people demonstrated in Poland on Saturday for the third day in a row against an almost total ban on abortion, when the country's legislation was already among the most restrictive in the European Union.

The Polish Constitutional Court on Thursday outlawed abortion in the event of a serious malformation of the fetus, a decision a priori final, yet contested by the liberal opposition and women's rights organizations in this country deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition.

"War on Women"

Chanting “Freedom, Equality, Women's Rights,” protesters - defying the government's ban on public gatherings as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic - marched through the streets across the country to denounce the decision of the Constitutional Court.

"Shame" or "war on women" proclaimed banners waved by the demonstrators, who also called for a referendum on the subject.

The judgment, in accordance with the wishes of the ultra-Catholic nationalist party in power, Droit et Justice (PiS), restricts the right to abortion to only cases of danger to death for the pregnant woman and pregnancies resulting from rape or death. 'incest.

The Polish Presidency and the Polish Episcopate expressed their “satisfaction” after the judgment of the Tribunal, reformed by the PiS government and accused since of having in its ranks a number of judges loyal to this party.

Tens of thousands of illegal abortions

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, reacted Thursday to the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal, denouncing in a press release a "violation of human rights".

The leader of the European People's Party (EPP), former President of the European Council and former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, pointed to "political villainy".

According to official data, Poland, a country of 38 million inhabitants, recorded in 2019 only around 1,100 cases of abortion, the overwhelming majority of which were authorized because of an irreversible malformation of the fetus.

According to NGOs, the number of abortions performed clandestinely in Poland or in foreign clinics could reach nearly 200,000 per year.

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  • Catholicism

  • Feminism

  • Demonstration

  • Abortion

  • World

  • Poland