The Women vs Poland

Thousands are on the streets across the country since Poland's Constitutional Tribunal had issued a ruling that will end legal abortions. Poland is known to be the strictest country in the EU when it comes to legally performed abortions. Back in 1993, abortions were proclaimed illegal, there were only 3 exceptions when a woman can undergo such a procedure:

1. When the pregnancy threatens the life/health of the mother

2. When the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest

3. When the foetus is irreversibly damaged

Things changed a week ago when The Tribunal (composed mainly of judges appointed by the ruling conservative party- Law and Justice) issued a ruling that banned the last option which consists of 98% of all legal abortions. They have supported their decision under the pretext that such abortions are violating the foetus's right of life. Many international organizations like Amnesty International, the Centre of Reproductive Rights, and Human Rights Watch dispute this statement as it is crystal clear that according to the International

Law and the Claim of Foetal Rights, one's right begins straight after birth. The reason behind this decision is that otherwise women/girls rights and life might be put at stake:

"No one has the right to subordinate another in the way that unwanted pregnancy subordinates a woman by requiring her to risk her own health and life to save her own child. Thus, the long-standing insistence of women upon voluntary motherhood is a demand for minimal control over one's destiny as a human being. From a human rights perspective, to depart from voluntary motherhood would impose upon women an extreme form of discrimination and forced labour."

(Rhonda Copelon et al.)

Nonetheless, there is always a political side to each story. The ruling party is trying to fulfil

their political games and secure once more the support of their most prominent ally - the church. The fact that the Law and Justice party tried to put in motion an abortion ban (unsuccessfully) in the last 4 years should not go unnoticed. The protests that this decision provoked managed to stop it on time but today's situation is quite different. Like many

other countries, a gathering of more than 5 people is forbidden in Poland due to COVID-19. This means that the government sees the protests as illegal and it also accuses the protesters that they might spread the virus which would lead to the death of many people.

We should not forget that as a conservative right-wing party, a large percent of the Law and

Justice electorate are people with strong traditional beliefs rooted in religion. Therefore, the support of the Catholic church (which was disappointed when the pressure put by the protests interfered with the decision in the past years) is a must not only before the elections

but during the ruling as well. What the government did was actually a politically smart move. In 2016, they dismissed the Tribunal and appointed judges with strong right-wing beliefs legally nominated by the previous government. By doing this, the party knew that the ban should be issued, and they also should not take political responsibility as the ruling was made by the Tribunal.

As a result, we have a sad reality in which women have to pay the price. In the near future, there is a huge probability that they are going to be refused to buy contraceptives. They might also have to consider options that seem unnecessary and, in some cases, barbaric. One of them is the so-called abortion tourism which is not unfamiliar to the Polish girls and women. In 2019, Abortion Without Borders has launched an initiative that helps those in need with money and logistical support when it comes to traveling to neighbor countries for the procedure. This option, however, might be trickier and even impossible under the new ruling when it comes to crossing the border.

The biggest danger of terminating a pregnancy when it's illegal is that most of the trustworthy doctors would most probably refuse to assist. Therefore, there is a chance that women might put their life and health in the hands of people who would do it for profit. This might even become an attractive business opportunity for the local mob. Without a doubt, the ban invades the freedom of choice. It insults women's ability to think, to act, and to make their own life decisions accordingly and freely. Robbing them from such features, it strips away their human dignity and democratic possibilities. If in the 21st century we are witnessing how such violations are being approved so easily, it is scary to think what tomorrow might bring.