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Potential U-turn signalled for Polish abortion ban

A sea of thousands of umbrellas of women and men participating in a nationwide ¿Black Monday¿ strike to protest a legislative proposal for a total ban on abo

Thousands of women dressed in black protested across Poland on "Black Monday".

Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has looked firmly in control since sweeping to power a year ago but it may have pressed its conservative agenda too far by initially backing a virtual ban on abortion.

In late September, the lower house of parliament voted 267-154 to ban abortion in all cases except for risk to the mother's life.

The abrupt dismissal of the law came just ahead of a European Parliament debate on women's rights in Poland scheduled for Wednesday evening.

The ruling party is facing additional pressure to liberalize in the worldwide arena: today (Oct. 5) the European Parliament will meet to discuss women's rights in Poland. Some members called for the need to save unborn lives.

However, millions of Polish women are against it. "The government of PiS [Law and Justice] is not working on any law that would change the now binding regulations", she said.

On Monday almost 100,000 people donned black and attended street protests across the country, while there were also rallies in Brussels and other European cities. Some said they don't approve of imposing criminal sentences on women who seek abortions.

Nevertheless, Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the right-wing governing PiS party, has suggested that they could move in the future to tighten abortion laws to a lesser degree. And prime minister Beata Szydlo says the Law and Justice party "is not working" on the ban, NPR reports. But Dzierzawski didn't sound optimistic, saying the conservative lawmakers had betrayed their voters.

"They could lose the two sections of the electorate that helped them succeed", said Aleksander Smolar, a liberal political analyst with the Stefan Batory Foundation, according to Reuters.

The strike and street demonstrations follow a street protest by thousands on Saturday in front of the parliament in Warsaw.

She said she wants to see calmer emotions surrounding the divisive proposal to impose a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape or if the mother's life is at risk. Women found to have had abortions would face a five-year prison term, while doctors charged with facilitating an abortion could also face imprisonment. But screw that - the world needs good news and if protests can make Polish lawmakers think twice about jailing women for seeking an abortion (like they do in El Salvador), that's worth doing a little happy dance.

stayontheblack.com

Potential U-turn signalled for Polish abortion ban