Last week, a debate about abortion which started in the lower house of the Polish parliament in Warsaw spilled onto Warsaw's streets. While pro-life and pro-choice supporters didn't exactly clash, each staged their own demonstration, in a reaction to a proposed constitutional amendment that could end the possibility of legal abortion in Poland.
At the moment, Polish law allows abortion only in cases of rape, or if the foetus suffers gross abnormality, or where the woman's life is threatened. The proposed constitutional amendment aims "to protect life" by changing the definition of a legal human being to begin "from the moment of conception," therefore disallowing abortion for any reason. The amendment is backed by the ruling coalition of PiS (right-centre Law and Order party) and LPR (the extreme-right wing League of Polish Families party), and many of their prostesting supporters were Radio Maryja listeners, the extreme-right radio mouthpiece of the LPR.
On March 28th, the "March of Life," organized by Radio Maryja, took place near the Sejm building and included about 5,000 participants, many coming to the capital from smaller Polish towns. Many demanded a complete ban on abortion and cited the backing of the Catholic church. A homily by a bishop started the march, in which Sandomierz Bishop Andrzej Dziegla said "Each and every life is holy and inviolable, and should be protected from the moment of conception to natural death."
On the opposition side were members of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Polish Social Democracy (SDPL) parties, actors, journalists, as well as feminist and leftist activists, many who not only demanded leaving the constitution unchanged, but favoured looser restrictions on abortion to put Poland more in line with the rest of the EU. The rival rally was held on Konstytucji Square and included about 500 participants. The leaders of the opposing rally emphasized the importance of the protection of a woman's life, as guaranteed by the constitution. The proposed amendment could lead to an absolute ban on abortion, endangering the lives of numerous women, especially those without money to travel abroad if necessary. A petition was signed against the amendment.
Many will be tensely watching as the vote for the controversial amendment nears, which is scheduled for mid-April. Presently, a complete ban of abortions would be a tragic step backwards for Poland, at least in relation to its European neighbors. Even as recently as this week, Portugal, also a strongly Catholic country, ratified a new law allowing abortion up until the 10th week of pregnancy. At the moment, Malta and Ireland are the only other countries in the EU besides Poland which ban abortions. |