Poland moves to tighten abortion laws amid pandemic restrictions

As Poland plans to loosen up its lockdown from Sunday, its national conservative government has launched a fresh campaign to tighten up abortion laws.

In a heated parliamentary session on Thursday, MPs from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party backed a Bill initiated by a citizens’ group aimed at banning abortion of non-viable foetuses.

PiS officials say moving the Bill was necessary because of time constraints; opposition figures and critics accuse the government of exploiting the pandemic – and the ban on public gatherings – to ram through its political agenda.

“Law and Justice have decided, instead of fighting coronavirus to keep fighting women,” said Wanda Nowicka, an MP with Lewica (Left Coalition).

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Poland’s liberal communist-era abortion regime ended in 1993, when a campaign by the Catholic Church led to one of Europe’s strictest regimes. It is only legal – up to the 12th week of pregnancy – if resulting from a crime or if the mother’s life is in danger or a foetus shows severe defects.

Repeated attempts by a conservative civil society group to outlaw abortion entirely in Poland failed to pass parliament in 2015, 2016 and, most recently, in 2018.

Now the Bill has returned in a more limited form, proposing a total ban on abortion of non-viable foetuses.

Women’s groups

“Abortion is a much worse plague than coronavirus, it produces more victims and all die,” said Kaja Godek, the 38-year-old woman behind the initiative.

Official statistics suggest about 1,000 pregnancies are terminated annually in Poland, though women’s groups estimate the real number – including illegal procedures – is closer to 150,000.

Previous attempts to tighten the law further have attracted huge street protests, but emergency measures imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19 mean street protests are now illegal.

Instead women have taken their protest online, to supermarket queues or on bicycles with protest signs attached.

Women’s organisations and opposition parties say the rush to get the Bill through parliament is motivated by the presidential election in three weeks’ time. PiS is hopeful its candidate, incumbent Andrzej Duda, can secure a second term.

In recent days, he has said he would sign any abortion Bill passed by parliament that came before him.

“This is purely a cynical electoral strategy to reach out to extremists and mobilise the Catholic Church,” suggested Ms Nowicka. “PiS would like the church to encourage their people to vote, and for Duda.”

Postal vote

The election, set for May 10th, is highly controversial. While opposition candidates have halted their campaigns because of the pandemic, and demand a postponement, Mr Duda continues to appear in public at events demonstrating pandemic preparedness.

Ahead of the presidential election, the government has rushed through a Bill to revive the postal vote it recently abolished, ignoring warnings from the national election committee that such a move is a legal and logistical nightmare.

As other parliaments reduce their non-essential activity during the pandemic, the Sejm, the lower house of parliament in Warsaw, is as busy as ever.

As well as the first reading of the abortion Bill, ruling PiS parliamentarians have backed a proposal to ban “propaganda for paedophilia”.

This may outlaw sexual education of minors as the amended article would punish especially those “condoning”, within the school context, sexual activities of minors.

Some fear the Bill is so loosely worded it could see teachers who discuss kissing with their students face a prison sentence of up to three years.

Poland plans to ease coronavirus restrictions from Sunday, reopening parks and forests and easing restrictions on the number of customers allowed at one time in shops.