Poland's Near-Total Ban on Abortions
- fionacsweet
- Jan 28, 2021
- 1 min read
In America, we can sometimes get lost in only American news headlines. So today, I thought I would change things up a bit and focus on what's happening in Poland.
The answer is, unfortunately, nothing great.
Protesters gathered in the streets of major cities on Wednesday night after Poland's government announced that a near-total ban on abortion had suddenly gone into effect. The country's Constitutional Court had ruled previously in October to ban terminations of pregnancies with fetal defects, which were pretty much the only abortions that occurred in Poland.
Abortion will now only be permitted in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's health or life is in danger. The implementation of this ruling was delayed after many weeks of huge protests in the fall. But unfortunately now, there can be no more delay.
In this period of delay, many hospitals had already stopped performing abortions due to fetal defects due to fear of legal trouble as doctors in Poland can be jailed for performing illegal abortions.
Fortunately, this move comes as President Biden signed an executive action today rescinding the "global gag rule." This rule basically used to bar international nongovernmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals from receiving US funding. So maybe that might help a bit.
In the meantime, keep protesting and keep using your voices. In a situation like this, that's really all we have.
What a shame....