Thousands march in anger at the government bowing to church pressure to ban abortion. Photo: Piotr Stasiak/PK8M
Poland introduced a restrictive anti-abortion law in 1993 after the collapse of communism, instructed by the principles and influence of the Catholic Church. Aleksandra Solik recalls that “right after the first partly democratic elections in Poland, the Church started its offensive. Most of the society was against the proposed restrictions but the civil society remained undeveloped so people felt isolated and the new legislation came as a shock for all of us”. Solik was involved in the 1990s resistance movement that fought to prevent the introduction of restrictions on abortion. Eventually the law that was adopted was presented by politicians as a compromise with the Church. It limits access to abortion only to cases when the foetus is severely damaged, when the pregnancy poses a threat to woman's health, or when the pregnancy is a result of a rape.
Although the Polish State claims to be secular, for the last twenty years, no ruling party (be it left-wing or right-wing) has untangled the women's right to choose with religious restrictions. Feminist activists, backed by the international community have employed various strategies to push back against the restrictive legislation, but their success has been limited. Fortunately, anti-choice groups have not succeeded in introducing a total ban on abortion despite numerous attempts in the Parliament - so far.
