Senior politicians from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) have distanced themselves from a controversial proposal to ban abortion, in the wake of a wave of mass protests across Poland that appears to have caught the government off guard.

Jarosław Gowin, the minister of science and higher education, said on Wednesday that the protests had “caused us to think and taught us humility”.

Tens of thousands of people boycotted work and classes on Monday to protest against the proposals, which if enacted would impose a blanket ban on abortion, including in instances of pregnancy as a result of rape or incest.

Despite wretched weather, approximately 30,000 people, many dressed in black, had gathered in Warsaw’s Castle Square, chanting “We want doctors, not missionaries!” and carrying placards bearing messages like “My Uterus, My Opinion”, and “Women Just Want to Have FUN-damental Rights”.

“The protest was bigger than anyone expected – people were astonished,” said Agnieszka Graff, a commentator and activist. “Warsaw was swarming with women in black. It was amazing to feel the energy and the anger, the emotional intensity was incredible.”

The so-called “Black Protests” appear to have shifted public opinion on the abortion issue, with recent polling suggesting not only near-overwhelming opposition to the proposed ban, but increasing support for liberalisation of existing laws.

Polls also appear to suggest support for the government dropping to its lowest levels since elections last year.

PiS did not initiate the proposed legislation, which was first considered by parliament in September as the result of a citizens’ initiative – a petition that has received at least 100,000 signatures – submitted by hardline conservative advocacy group Ordo Iuris and the Stop Abortion coalition.

But the ruling party is regarded by many as having taken ownership of the proposals once its parliamentary deputies voted unanimously in favour of passing them to the next stage of the legislative process, scrutiny by a parliamentary committee. PiS deputies also voted down an alternative, liberalising measure proposed by the pro-choice Save Women coalition.

Both the prime minister, Beata Szydło, and PiS leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, had signalled support for the Stop Abortion proposals, but the government appears to have reconsidered its position following the protests.

Ahead of Gowin saying the protests had led to a rethink, Szydło said on Tuesday that the government “has not worked and is not working on any law amending the current legislation on abortion”. She also implied she had admonished the foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, for widely derided remarks on Monday, in which he had said of the protesters “Let them have their fun”, and stated that by “dressing up, screaming silly slogans and vulgarities”, the protesters were “making a mockery of very important issues”.

The senate speaker, Stanisław Karczewski, said on Wednesday that Poland’s upper house of parliament would not initiate work on a bill to further restrict Poland’s abortion law.

Poland already outlaws abortions, with exceptions made only for rape, incest, badly damaged foetuses or if the mother’s life is at risk. In practice, though, some doctors refuse to perform even legal abortions, citing moral objections.

Polish women seeking abortions typically go to Germany or other neighbouring countries or order abortion pills online.

Kaczyński has suggested that the government might accept a new “compromise”, whereby terminations carried out because of a congenital disorder of the foetus would be banned, but terminations of pregnancies as a result of rape or incest would still be permitted.

Campaigners stress that that is unlikely to be acceptable, and that protests will continue. “In previous anti-government protests, it was our parents’ generation on the streets,” says Aleksandra Włodarczyk, 28, a bank administrator who participated in Monday’s protest. “But with this, they have managed to mobilise the young, and we are very angry.”

Christian Davies in Warsaw
@crsdavies

* “Polish government signals U-turn on total abortion ban”. The Guardian. Wednesday 5 October 2016 18.11 BST Last modified on Wednesday 5 October 2016 18.17 BST:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/05/polish-government-performs-u-turn-on-total-abortion-ban

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Polish women strike over planned abortion ban

Women stay away from workplaces in anger over proposal that would criminalise all terminations in country.

Women wearing black clothes and waving black flags are demonstrating across Poland, boycotting their jobs and classes as part of a nationwide strike in protest against a new law that would in effect ban abortion.

Many men also took part in demonstrations on the streets of Warsaw, Gdańsk and elsewhere across the largely Catholic nation.

Thousands of people also protested on Saturday in front of the parliament in Warsaw. Women were wearing black in a sign of mourning for the feared loss of reproductive rights; they have also warned that some women will die if the proposal passes as it stands now.

Poland already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with terminations legally permitted only when there is severe foetal abnormality, when there is a grave threat to the health of the mother, or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

But the new law would criminalise all terminations, with women punishable with up to five years in prison. Doctors found to have assisted with a termination would also be liable for prosecution and a prison term.

Critics say that even a woman who suffers a miscarriage could be under criminal suspicion, and that doctors might be put off conducting routine procedures on pregnant women for fear of being accused of facilitating a termination.

Women to go on strike in Poland in protest at planned abortion law
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Although a ban has received public support from elements within the Catholic church and Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS), neither initiated the proposals. They were drafted by hardline conservative advocacy group Ordo Iuris and submitted by the Stop Abortion coalition as a “citizens’ initiative” – a petition considered by parliament once it has received more than 100,000 signatures.

While it was difficult to gauge strike participation in small towns and rural areas, which tend to be more conservative, participation in the cities appeared to be significant.

A large crowd gathered in central Warsaw and people were also out on the streets in other cities. Coffee shops were filled with groups of women dressed head to toe in black.

Agnieszka Krysztopolska, a 34-year-old banker, was sitting with several friends who were all boycotting work. “I have two children and it’s not like I am some kind of hardline feminist but I do not agree with somebody depriving me of the right to my own health or that of my children. I think this bill is just dangerous,” she said.

Nearby, 28-year-old Magdalena Gwozdz chatted with her 17-year-old sister, who was boycotting school. “This should be a woman’s choice and abortion should be available in case of rape or a damaged foetus,” Gwozdz said. “This is Europe and we are in the European Union.”

The private news broadcaster TVN24, with some of its own presenters in black, showed images of establishments joining the strike, including a restaurant in Wrocław that closed to let female employees participate and a museum in Krakow where none of the women showed up to work.

In Częstochowa, perhaps the most Catholic city in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation, the city hall reported that 60% of female workers had not turned up to work.

Pro-choice activists called for the strike, or “national absence campaign”, after the Polish parliament voted on 23 September for Stop Abortion’s proposals to be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee. Women were encouraged to take a day off work and domestic tasks and gather for meetings or demonstrations, to donate blood or do charity work.

Many Polish women say they are sick of deals being cut over their fundamental reproductive and human rights, which they argue threaten both their safety and their dignity.

“A lot of women and girls in this country have felt that they don’t have any power, that they are not equal, that they don’t have the right to an opinion,” said Magda Staroszczyk, a strike coordinator, over the weekend. “This is a chance for us to be seen, and to be heard.”

Organisers cite an assault on women’s reproductive rights that goes beyond Stop Abortion’s proposed ban. A separate, PiS-sponsored bill restricting IVF, which would make it illegal to freeze embryos and allow women to fertilise only one embryo at a time, was also passed to the parliamentary committee stage in September.

Monday’s protest was inspired by an all-out strike more than 40 years ago by the women of Iceland, when 90% of women refused to work, cook, or look after their children for a day in October 1975 [1].

The intensity of the so-called “black protests” has proved tricky for PiS, which presents itself as the guardian of traditional values in a country beset by liberal notions of multiculturalism, relaxed social mores and restrictive political correctness, but which remains mindful of the risks of alienating mainstream public opinion.

The party’s leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, has suggested that the government might accept a compromise whereby terminations carried out because of foetal abnormalities would be banned, but terminations of pregnancies as a result of rape or incest would still be permitted.

Christian Davies in Warsaw and agencies
@crsdavies

Associated Press contributed to this report

* The Guardian. Monday 3 October 2016 13.47 BST Last modified on Monday 3 October 2016 23.10 BST:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/03/polish-women-strike-over-planned-abortion-ban

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