Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: New Abortion Laws in Poland)

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New Abortion Laws in Poland

Thousands of women are protesting against Poland's new abortion laws in cities across the country.

A court ruling has banned almost all abortions - with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's health is at risk.
Abortions carried out when the foetus is malformed, which accounted for 98% of legal terminations last year, have now been outlawed.

In the ruling, the tribunal’s president Julia Przylebska said that permitting abortions in the case of foetal deformities legalised “eugenic practices with regard to an unborn child, thus denying it the respect and protection of human dignity”
Since the Polish constitution assures a right to life, Przylebska argued that an abortion based on a foetal malfunction was “a directly forbidden form of discrimination.”

Thousands of women have stormed the streets of Poland, protesting a recent court ruling that drastically restricts their right to access safe and legal abortions.
Rights groups had urged the government not to increase restrictions.
The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said the day marked a "sad day for women's rights".
Fewer than 2,000 legal abortions are carried out in Poland each year, a majority of which are due to foetal defects. Abortions in cases of rape, incest or where there is a threat to the mother’s life account for merely 2 per cent of all legal terminations. So the court’s ruling essentially translates to a near complete ban on abortions in the country.
Despite Poland being one of the most staunchly Catholic countries in Europe, a number of opinion polls have shown that a majority of its citizenry has been against a more restrictive abortion law over the years.

In late January 2020, the Union Cabinet amended the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act allowing women to seek abortions as part of reproductive rights and gender justice.
The amendment has raised the upper limit of MTP from 20 to 24 weeks for women including rape survivors, victims of incest, differently abled women and minors.
Failure of contraception is also acknowledged and MTP is now available to “any woman or her partner” replacing the old provision for “only married woman or her husband.”
The new law is forward looking, empathetic and looks at a very sensitive issue with a human face.
The Indian amendment says there is no limit for gestational age in case of fetal abnormalities. This addresses maternal mortality and morbidity arising from unsafe abortions.
Women will also be spared the stress and agony of seeking permissions from courts as time runs out on them. The amendment clarifies the role of practitioners who hesitate to intervene in cases of rape and incest survivors.