On January 27th, Polish Constitutional Tribunal signed into law its ruling about abortion law. It removed one of three exceptions that previously allowed for abortion in Poland: suspicion of heavy and irreversible foetal abnormalities. Effectively, this renders abortion in Poland completely illegal.
Even before the ruling, there were an estimated 1,000 abortions conducted in the country every year - the lowest ratio to live births in Europe - and roughly 97% of them thanks to the exception that has now been removed.
The timing makes this act especially cruel. The Polish government, aided by nationalist and catholic fundamentalist groups, deliberately pushed through the ban during a pandemic. They weaponised a health as an economic crisis against their own citizens.
In response, Polish women again took the streets to fight back against an attack on their reproductive rights. Thousands of people protested for three nights straight across the entire country. We stand with them at this time and commend their bravery and perseverance.
Reproductive rights are worker rights - An Injury to one is an injury to all.
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