Three keywords to better understand the Polish abortion protests (original) (raw)
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When COVID-19 Becomes a Political Ally: Poland's Law on Abortion
Selen Eşençay, 2020
On April 15, the Polish Parliament enacted the "Stop Abortion" bill. However, the Sejm decided to redirect the bill for further review in parliamentary committees. Although the bill was not a primary project of the Polish Government, the governing Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) was criticized for taking advantage of COVID-19 restrictive measures by trying to pass the law during the pandemic. The situation of Polish women regarding access to abortion was already arduous and critical before the outbreak of the pandemic due to current abortion legislation. Therefore, NGOs and women's rights activists came together through social networks to report that women's rights have suffered a blow during the confinement period. They specifically denounce the Polish government for making use of these confinement measures by trying to pass a controversial law, again decreasing women's access to abortion. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, in addition to the danger to public health, there is another threat caused by the pandemic due to the way in which extraordinary powers are an origin of temptation for politicians. Even though current debates are focused on the ability of crisis management regarding public health, how far leaders can go to preserve their power despite democracy and human rights is another crucial point we should focus on in this moment of crisis. Due to the pandemic, all countries are being required to take excessive measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
"Our Indignation Drives Me." The Biopolitics of Abortion and Counterpublic in Poland
The Polish Journal of Aesthetics, 2023
This paper approaches the Women's Strike (2020-2021) from the participants' perspective. First, the author outlines the political and cultural context, emphasizing the contemporary debate about abortion in Poland. Then, the analysis of the protests, conducted in line with Butler, Czarnacka, Graff, Korolczuk, and Majewska, is combined with the author's research outcomes based on the multi-sited participant observation and semi-structured qualitative interviews with participants of the protests. The main argument is that reevaluating the outcomes of a social movement that did not achieve its goal necessitates expanding the meaning of social change beyond the completion of said goal.
Mothers in Public and Political Life, 2017
The paper presents the situation of the proposal of the radicalization of abortion law in Poland that has stared in March 2016. What philosophers have never dreamed about has happened to Polish women, in the twenty first century, in liberal – democratic Europe, where human rights and gender equality are declared as fundamental for social and political order. The proposal includes changes, in which the right to abortion would be forbidden in all cases, regardless of the will of women. It means, even when woman’s life or/and health is threatened, the pregnancy is the result of rape, or the foetus is incurably ill. The presented phenomenon deserves the critical analysis. It will be conducted in the context of the division into private and public spheres, because any attempt of radicalization of abortion law has deep roots in public/private debate and the role of women as mothers in society and public realm. The research scope of the article is to answer the following question: how the case of abortion law may influence the position of citizens (particularly females) in private and public life. Hence, the presented paper contains three crucial parts: the draft of private/public debate as the theoretical background, the reconstruction of the course of events related to the actual situation of Polish abortion law, and in conclusion critical analysis in this area.
"This study documents the Black Protests that took place in the city of Krakow. It sets out to explain and analyse its features as a New Social Movement, as defined by the sociologist Claus Offe. With interviews with the insiders of the protests, and public polls at the time of protests, the study will analyse the outlook protesters have on the reproductive rights in Poland, its structure as a New Social Movement and public reactions, starting with an introduction and history of abortion and reproductive rights in the country."
Opinion – How Polish Women Fight Their Right-Wing Government
E-International Relations, 2021
Until autumn 2020, abortion in Poland was only legal in three instances. Pregnancy could be legally terminated if it met either of the following conditions: (1) the pregnancy posed a threat to a woman's life or health; (2) the pregnancy was a result of the 'prohibited act' (rape); or (3) it was highly probable that the foetus is severely and irreversibly impaired and/or will suffer from a life-threatening disease. On 22 October 2020, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the third condition no longer applied. In response to this decision, and in the midst of a second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, Poland saw some of its biggest protests since the fall of communism.
Explaining mass protests against abortion ban in Poland: the power of connective action
This article analyzes protests against abortion ban in Poland, with specific focus on the Black Protest (Czarny protest) initiated in September 2016 and All-Poland Women’s Strike (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet) organized on October 3 and then again October 24, 2016. The aim is to explain the factors behind the mass scale of protests focusing on the role of information and communication technologies in mobilizing the public. I argue that while the successful mobilization should be seen in the context of recent changes in political opportunity structure and the rise of mass-scale opposition to the regime shift implemented by the ruling Peace and Justice party, of key importance for upscaling of protests was the fact that the mobilization followed the logic of connective action based on personalized engagement, in which communication became an important element of organizational structure.
Poland The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Poland
2007
This study examines why it was relatively easy for decision makers in post-communist Poland to abolish a woman’s right to abortion after almost 40 years of liberal legislation and access to the procedure. This turn of events is especially noteworthy as it occurred in the first years of democracy when the vast majority of the society did not question the existing approach to abortion and opposed legislative restrictions – as they still do. In light of these facts, what were the reasons for and processes by which sexuality-related issues emerged at the top of the country’s political agenda soon after the communist system collapsed in 1989? How is it that reproduction and sexuality have remained the focus of the most controversial public debates? And how did these debates lead to the introduction of one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in Europe?
IFiS PAN Publishers, 2021
In autumn 2020, as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling that severely restricted access to abortion. Massive street protests, led by Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike), quickly followed. This sourcebook presents the voices of activists, politicians, and academics on the 2020 protests in Poland after the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling. Sources include press conferences, interviews, public speeches, and parliamentary committees and debates, translated into English and commented on by Polish feminist scholars. We designed this book to generate insights into the relationship between inequality, street protest, institutions, and violence, for use in research, teaching, journalism, and activism. This book was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (project no. 2016/23/B/HS6/03916).
2020
As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was developing in Europe officially since the end of February, the Polish government prepared a package of special legislation which was meant to address the key challenges related to the crisis. Already on 2 March 2020, the Lower House of the Parliament (Sejm) adopted the “Act on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situation caused by them” (act on Special Solutions).1 The first officially confirmed case of COVID-19 infection in Poland was announced the day after this law was adopted. In the following weeks, based on provisions in the Act on Special Solutions, and in response to increase in the number of cases detected, the government first announced a so-called ‘state of epidemic threat’2, which later on was turned into ‘the state of epidemic’.3
Women on strike: mobilizing against reproductive injustice in Poland
International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2018
The paper employs a lens of reproductive justice (RJ) to discuss the events of the 2016 mobilization against a total abortion ban proposal in Poland. By presenting the context of women's rights in Poland, especially the abortion debates, we argue that the 2016 Women's Strike showed that taking a stand for reproductive justice was countered by governmental actions. By using a case study approach, the paper analyzes the Strike as a tumultuous act of women's solidarity while simultaneously assessing its implications for RJ issues. We discuss the aftermath and the socio-political reticence to acknowledge the complexities of women's lives and reproductive choices. Further, we provide arguments for applying the RJ framework into discerning the notion of ideal citizens and gendered social control in Poland. This localized analysis has a global relevance by reflecting the impact of worldwide trends in women's rights activism and RJ in the context of resurfacing nationalisms and populism.