Part I. Letter from Women’s Strike
Hello!
We are writing briefly, because we have our hands full!
Tomorrow (23 July) is an important day – the Women’s Strike takes to the streets again! After the vote in which the Polish People’s Party (PSL) defeated the law proposal decriminalizing abortion, we are going to remind them that that is not what 90% of the coalition’s supporters voted for on 15 October last year!
We will be in Warsaw on Tuesday (July 23), at 6:00 p.m. in front of the Sejm (Parliament). Gdańsk, Łódź, Olsztyn and Poznań will also be on strike – details can be found on our FB events page.
We will be loud, and we will be visible, because we are more furious than we have been for a long time!
Let the streets fill up again and let our authorities hear us — it is not enough that you are not PiS — we want our rights! Keep your promises!
Thanks to everyone who has supported our fundraiser in recent days, it gave us the opportunity to prepare a really big protest. We have a sound system, posters, pins and stickers. Thanks to you, we could also afford to rent an ambulance to take care of our common safety and to buy water for people who will need to hydrate during the protest. Thank you for supporting us!
We will see you in Warsaw on Tuesday (23 July), at 6:00 pm in front of the Sejm. Gdańsk, Łódź, Olsztyn, and Poznań will also be on strike – details can be found on our FB page!!
Signed,
PART II.
Lawyers in Poland standing up for women’s rights
“As Polish lawmakers debated easing stringent abortion laws, Warsaw-based lawyer Jerzy Podgorski was in court defending a man from the remote town of Pinczow charged with aiding his partner’s abortion. Podgorski’s client, identified as Grzegorz, was found guilty this month of providing his long-time partner with pills to terminate their pregnancy at her request.
“It was the second such high-profile case for the seasoned lawyer. Last year, he represented Justyna Wydrzynska.
“In Poland, women can only get an abortion in the hospital if the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest or poses a direct threat to the life or health of the mother. No law penalises them if they carry out their own abortion, for instance with pills ordered online through organisations based in EU countries where the procedure is legal. But Podgorski believes that outlawed abortion assistance is “indirectly aimed at women themselves”. The goal “is to isolate a woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy from the whole world, to make her completely alone… because anyone who helped her would be punished”, he said.
“Police first detained Grzegorz’s partner “right in front of her home when she was walking her children back from kindergarten… in complete violation of any criminal procedures,” Podgorski said.
“After defending Justina, Podgorski joined the “Lawyers Pro Abo” nonprofit. The group’s website says: “In our opinion, the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, as well as the right to use a chosen method of contraception, are human rights that should be protected by the state,” the organisation said on its website.
“According to Karolina Gierdal, an anti-discrimination lawyer, the law against abortion assistance causes “a lot of anxiety about where such help begins and ends — can my friend be with me? ‘Can they pass me a hot-water bottle?’ The whole circle that should be a circle of support is suddenly criminalised.”
“Kamila Ferenc was selected by Poland’s bar as last year’s top defence lawyer for her fight for women’s rights in the predominantly Catholic country. Ferenc, who works with the Federa women’s rights group, said she learned the ins and outs of the reproductive rights through them. “It terrified me how women are disrespected and their rights violated, how they are humiliated in Polish hospitals, how doctors harm their patients and disregard them,” Ferenc told AFP. So she decided to do something. She did not shy away from prominent cases like that of the woman who last year ordered abortion pills and, after getting ratted out by her psychologist, had her flat raided by the police and was subjected to a hospital strip search. “I deeply believe that when evil occurs, it must be confronted,” Ferenc said.
“Among her biggest successes, Ferenc counts an ombudsman’s decision to recognise risks to women’s mental, not just physical, health as a valid reason for legal abortion. Ferenc had earlier filed a complaint after a young woman she represented was refused an abortion despite evidence of the pregnancy’s risk to her mental health. “Thanks to such actions, we’ve saved many women,” she said.”
Part III. Tusk sacks two no-shows
Politico EU reports that Prime Minister Donald Tusk fired his Deputy Minister of Development and Technology and his Caucus Vice-Chair for not voting in the tight ballot to ease abortion rules on 23 July, which was lost by three votes in a bid to ease the country’s strict abortion laws. One of them, pleaded a long-planned trip to the United States. Tusk made clear their dismissal was intended as a punishment. The third no-show was in hospital and was excused.
“Discipline in the coalition is necessary so there is no crack that prevents PiS from getting its hands on the governing process,” he warned. He also expressed dismay that he hadn’t convinced a majority to vote for the bill. And he promised to do “everything I can” to ensure his coalition doesn’t fall apart over abortion.
The bill would have decriminalized the act of helping a woman obtain an abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Currently this offence can be punished by up to three years in jail.
SOURCES: Part I. E-mail from Women’s Strike, 22 July 2024; FRANCE24.com. And: report by Agence France Presse, 23 July 2024.
Part II. Report re lawyers, in Wysokieobcasy.pl, by Zuzanna Kuffel, 21.11.2023. PHOTO of Camila Ferenc: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/PAP) ; PHOTO of Karolina Gierdal in: Prawo.pl. [Note: Couldn’t find a photo of Jerzy Podgorski!]
Part III. Tusk sacks no-show MPs after abortion bill debate. Politico EU, by Csongor Körömi, 23 July 2024.