In this article, Aliya Khan explains the recent ongoing events in Poland.
“We’re prepared to fight till the end,” Marta Lempart, co-founder of the Women’s Strike
movement, in Poland, told reporters on Friday. What are the polish people fighting
against?
In this current state of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, about 100,000 of people took to the streets to challenge the government on its new ruling on Abortion laws. The protestors have been chanting “I think, I feel, I decide” and anti-PiS slogans. Online supporters are using the tag #ThisIsWar to show solidarity with those marching.
A court ruling on 22 nd October labelled Abortion of serious and irreversible impairments of foetuses as ‘unconstitutional’. Therefore, once published in the official journal, the
constitutional court ruling would ban all abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is in risk. The anger is targeted at the governing ultra-Catholic Law and Justice(PiS) party. The politics and the catholic churches are very closely tied in Poland. Warsaw witnessed massive demonstrations on 30 the October 2020, largest in Poland after decades.
In 2019, almost 98% of the abortions were carried out in cases of malformed foetus. In 2020,
this had been outlawed, which means, a woman will be carrying a baby in her womb for 9
months, who will most probably die in the future. Magda, a 34-year-old protester in the
northern city of Gdynia, told TVN: "Women are not respected in this country. No-one is listening to us."
On Friday, before the protests, Andrzej Duda, Poland’s right-wing president, announced a
“legislative solution” to the political crises: abortions in instances of terminal birth defects
would be allowed, however, foetuses with conditions such as Down’s syndrome would be
banned. The protestors also gathered near the Prime Minister’s home again on Friday night, carrying signs with messages such as "This is war" and "You have blood on your hands"
The might and dedication with which the polish people are charging against this oppressive
law is commendable. It is enough, men should stop making laws on women’s body, period.
Reproductive rights are human rights.
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