Abortion in Poland: A Backwards Step?
Alida Browne / Jan 16 / Body Autonomy
Thousands of women across Poland took to the streets of major cities and towns last October to protest a new ruling on abortion laws. Previously, although having one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, the procedure was legal across the country in the case of foetal abnormalities and for Down’s Syndrome. The new states that terminations for malformed foetuses or foetuses with severe deformity, including the genetic disorder Down’s Syndrome, are now unconstitutional. This now means that the only legal reasons a woman has the right to access a safe, legal termination is in the event of rape, incest, or if their life is at risk.
The Law and Order party are those responsible for the change in law in Poland. Set up by two brothers whose ideologies are based on social conservatism and favours the Catholic Church, the party has brought into question the reproductive rights of women.
To put this into context, the global trend towards abortion law leans towards liberalisation. Despite this, twenty-six countries around the world have a total ban on terminations which accounts for 5% of women at reproductive age; around 90 million women. However, complexities in abortion law vary extremely from country to country. Sixty-seven countries permit terminations on request by the woman. A further fourteen countries permit them based on social or economic grounds, meaning that they take into account a woman’s foreseeable environment and social circumstances when considering the impact of pregnancy and childbearing. In essence, this means you will most likely be granted a safe legal abortion. These countries tend to be Northern hemisphere countries and western nations with exceptions. This leaves one-hundred and twenty countries that either ban abortion altogether or only permit them under specific circumstances (usually threat to life, health or rape).
The result of the new ruling in Poland will do nothing more than encourage dangerous or ‘backstreet’ abortions. Dangerous abortions are the direct result of a situation in where women are given limited or no access to safe terminations. Giving women the right to choose what happens to them if they become pregnant decreases negative health risks, unsafe abortions and ultimately the death of women. Access to clinics and safe terminations is a fundamental part of women’s healthcare, taking this away from Polish women has caused uproar as the new law prohibits them from making whichever decision is best for them.
Although western nations tend to lean towards liberalisation there are exceptions. My home country of Northern Ireland only decriminalised abortion this year. Previous to this, they were only allowed under very limited circumstances. The reasoning for Northern Ireland’s anomaly in the general trend of ‘western countries and liberal abortion laws’ resonates with the same reasons abortion laws are strict in Poland: religion. Both countries are predominantly catholic countries and a lot of their politics are underpinned by religious belief; this is often blamed for the stricter laws around women’s reproductive autonomy.
As someone who has experienced needing an abortion and the emotional ordeal that comes along with it - only then can you understand how crucial it is for women to be able to choose what happens if they find themselves pregnant. The added emotional trauma I would have had to deal with if I did not have the crucial access to facilities I did, then my experience would have been a lot worse. The distances some women have to travel to access safe abortion even in Western Europe only adds to the mental and physical side effects of the decision and procedure. This is why it is important for decisions surrounding abortion to be a women’s issue. Decisions and dialogue around the latter should be led by women as they are the ones primarily affected by pregnancy. In reality, most governments around the world are dominated by men and the majority of decision-making power lays in the hands of men, exemplified in the case of Poland. This begs the question: should the people who are unaffected by an issue have a say in or have as much of a say as those whom it affects?
Giving access to safe abortion does not mean that you have to agree with it; however, giving women autonomy over their bodies should come first and foremost. The issue isn’t about the decision to have an abortion itself but rather it is about the decision to be able to choose. The ruling in Poland is a tactful yet unpopular move to push through a law that comes only to serve the Catholic Church and ultraconservatives for their political support, at the expense of women’s reproductive rights. I think it is time for governments that prioritise religious ideologies in law-making to rethink the consequences of doing so and consider the individuals in society whom these decisions actually affect.