It was already one of the most restrictive in Europe.

Abortion legislation is facing a new turn of the screw in Poland.

The Polish Constitutional Court has indeed given a very controversial green light to a new tightening of the law on abortion by outlawing abortion in the event of a serious malformation of the fetus.

This decision is a priori final, even if it is already contested by the liberal opposition and women's rights organizations in this country considered to be deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition.

Court President Julia Przylebska said existing legislation allowing abortion of malformed fetuses was "incompatible" with the country's constitution.

Europe is outraged

This decision provoked an immediate critical reaction from the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic.

"Eliminating the grounds for almost all legal abortions in Poland is practically the same as banning them and violating human rights," the Commissioner said in a statement.

This decision "translates into clandestine abortions or (performed) abroad for those who can afford it, and more suffering among others", she insisted.

Usunięcie podstawy niemal wszystkich legalnych aborcji w #Polska to praktycznie ich zakaz i naruszenie # PrawaCzlowieka.Dzisiejszy wyrok TK oznacza aborcje w podziemiu / za granicą dla tychęzla dovnykićićičičičičičičičičičičičičičičzałekičići wyrok TK oznacza aborcje w podziemiu / za granicą dla tychęzza ł ć

- Commissioner for Human Rights (@CommissionerHR) October 22, 2020

Several hundred people took to the streets of Warsaw to protest the court ruling, chanting “shame!” And holding up signs with slogans such as “my body, my case”.

Some also carried candles. 

President's "satisfaction" 

In line with the wishes of the ruling Ultra-Catholic Nationalist Party, Law and Justice (PiS), the judgment will restrict the right to abortion only to cases of danger to death for the pregnant woman and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.

For its part, the Polish Presidency expressed its "satisfaction" with the judgment handed down.

"The opinions of the President, Andrzej Duda, in this matter are well known and have not changed. We express our satisfaction that the Constitutional Court has taken a stand on the side of life," said the spokesperson for the head of the 'State.

On the other hand, pro-democratic and feminist organizations shouted out loud "shame".

The Constitutional Court, reformed by the government led by Law and Justice (PiS), has since often been accused of having in its ranks a number of judges loyal to this party.

"Hell for women"

The main centrist opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO), has blamed the "hell for women" on PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski himself and on the Catholic Church in Poland.

Barbara Nowacka, one of the leaders of the PO, accused the bishops: "It's your fault. You have blood on your hands," she said.

The leader of the European People's Party (PPL) and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk joined in the reactions of indignation aroused by this verdict.

"Raising the issue of abortion and the decision of this pseudo-tribunal in the midst of the pandemic storm is more than cynicism. It is political villainy," tweeted the former prime minister Polish.

Wrzucenie tematu aborcji i orzeczenie w tej sprawie pseudotrybunału w środku szalejącej pandemii to coś więcej niż cynizm.

To polityczne łajdactwo.

- Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) October 22, 2020

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.

Many women and women's rights organizations have protested against legal attempts to toughen the law, but the Covid-19 pandemic has complicated mobilization.

With AFP

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