Women's Hell in Poland
After the recent development concerning abortion rights, INTERNaction has sought the opinion of a young woman who calls Poland her home country. These are her words, mirroring her thoughts and feelings.
This shouldn't be your only source of knowledge. INTERNaction invites you, the readers, to seek a diverse pool of information sources and form an independent opinion. Whatever your view is, we encourage you to take a stand in any form available to you: writing, dancing, composing a poem, painting, speaking.
Silence is no option. Voice to Maja Urbanowicz.
"What is happening?
The abortion laws in Poland were always extremely strict in comparison to the rest of Europe. The termination of pregnancy used to be legal only in three cases- in case of rape, danger to the mother’s life, or when there were fetal defects. However, on Thursday (22.10) The Constitutional Tribunal in Poland has ruled that abortions in case of fetal defects violate Polish Constitution. The latter constituted 98% of all the legal abortions in Poland, what makes the abortion almost completely banned and forces woman and pregnant people to give birth to deformed fetuses, who are very likely to live a very short period of time. This is torture both to the child and their mother.
One of the problems is that the abortion ban, does not stop abortions, it just makes them less safe. The decision of the Constitutional Tribunal forces women to seek help abroad or in the organizations that offer the financial help for pharmacological abortions that could be done at home, as a termination of your own pregnancy is not penalized. (And hopefully never will be). Another problem with this decision is the patriarchal oppression of women. The right wing’s biggest fear are women taking control of their own bodies and sexuality, as that would destroy their biggest weapon- the patriarchy. No matter what are your views on abortion, the individual and independent decision should only be made by the person who is pregnant, not by the politicians or right-wing fundamentalists.
The actions of the ruling party, called Law and Justice, are ironic and are lacking any respect for the citizens. The government has added fuel to the fire, making such a big decision, knowing that it will result in thousands of people on the streets protesting in the middle of the pandemic. This is the time during which the government should protect people instead of taking away their rights. That is the reason why so many people are furious at the moment. Indeed, thousands of people went to the streets protesting. The biggest protest was right in front of the house of the ruling party’s president- Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The police have used pepper gas against the protesters, many people were arrested. But this is only the beginning and women are getting angrier and angrier. One thing is for sure- they will never give up and hopefully, one day, polish women will live in a country where their rights and choices are respected."
Maja Urbanowicz
