Staying Informed: Pulling for Poland
By Mary-Kaitlin Enright
With everything going on in the world around us, and the swarm of news enveloping us every day, it can be hard to keep track of every single current event. Especially when there is so much going on in our country, it can be especially hard to keep up with what’s going on around the world. But that doesn’t make it any less our responsibility to go out and get that information. So, I thought I would make it a little easier to do so. There’s something going on in Poland that I think is important. Here’s the sitch.
What’s Going on in Poland?
Poland is known as one of the more conservative countries in Europe on a variety of issues, and the ruling party in Poland has tried and failed to restrict abortion for many years. As a result, many women have sought alternative methods of receiving abortions, including traveling abroad and taking illegal measures. The legality of abortion came up as an issue in Poland in 2016, again in 2018, and again in April 2020. Yet the straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back occurred on October 22nd of this year, when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled abortions for fetal abnormalities unconstitutional. For reference, that accounts for over 97% of legal abortions last year alone. This brings Poland’s ruling on abortions to a near-total ban. After this ruling, abortions in Poland are only legal in the case of sexual assault, incest, or when danger to the mother’s life is involved.
With this major ruling in the books, women and men alike across the country took to the streets to fight what they see as a gradual stripping of their rights. In what has been the biggest protests in the country since the fall of communism in 1989, Poles are demanding a reverse of the ruling, and are furthermore fighting for pro-choice rights reform across the board. Things started small with hundreds of protesters gathering right after the ban, growing to tens of thousands in the weeks to follow, in cities all over the country.
Protests have taken numerous forms, from massive anti-government protests, demonstrators dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale in churches, confrontations with priests and ministers, and graffiti art on churches and other religious institutions across the country. On the sixth day of protesting, the demonstrators even took things to the level of a nationwide strike, in which they refused to work and swarmed public squares.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/world/europe/poland-abortion-ruling-protests.html)
Even though Poland is a very Catholic country (33 million of the 38 million citizens are registered as Catholic), these protests against the recent abortion ban seem to also be an expression of Poles’ pushback against religious institutions’ involvement in their government, as the Catholic Church was involved in pushing a pro-life agenda onto the Polish government. Breaking the “long standing social taboo against challenging the church,” this is a significant movement for Poland.
In the most recent protests, crowds have amassed up to 430,00 people in over 400 protests across Poland. Police have begun to lose control of the situation, using pepper spray or, in worse cases, physical violence to contain the otherwise peaceful protests. This has not done much but lead to a greater amassing of groups of people behind the original women who started the protests.
The risk involved
This is, of course, occurring in the midst of COVID-19, which has sent the country into turmoil due to one of the worst cases of coronavirus surge in the world. As a result, hospitals have been struggling to keep up with the increasing numbers of daily reported infections.
The prime minister has encouraged the protesters to stay home and avoid public interaction in order to subside the increasing outbreaks.
Why Does It Matter?
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, has expressed the weight of the issue at hand, calling the protests a “sad day for women’s rights.”
Protesters equate the abortion ban to a slow “chipping away at basic human rights,” that is working to lessen their rights and abilities as a Polish population. When people’s rights are being taken away, and when the government is pushing back against peaceful protesters, we need to pay attention, as these are serious issues.
Why Should I Pull for Poland?
Since the announcement of the ruling, numerous protests have erupted across other countries in Europe, as well as in the United States, in support of the protests in Poland. These demonstrations, which vary in size and intensity, have showcased how people around the world are in agreement with, and stand behind, women in Poland fighting for their rights. The U.S. government has not made a statement, but that does not take the responsibility off our shoulders.
Showing our support as Americans is important, as we have fought for women’s rights to choose and should care that others outside of our borders have those same rights. Women and men alike in Poland need advocates to stand by their side. By educating one another, donating, and getting involved, we can make their cause that much stronger, and it is up to us to do what we can to do so.
Not sure what getting involved really means? Start by reading up on the issues here:
Poland moves to near-total ban on abortion, sparking protests
Polish Women Lead Strike Over Abortion Ruling Amid Threats of Crackdown
And find more ways to support here:
