Mass protests in Poland and across the world have led Poland’s far-right government to drop its Vatican-pleasing total ban on abortion, which was so sloppily overbroad that it potentially criminalized miscarriage and surgeries to save foetuses’ lives.
The protests by women in mourning black “caused us to think and taught us humility,” said science minister Jaroslaw Gowin.
Update: Olga Wojnarowska updates us on the situation with the proposal — it’s dire:
@doctorow @nicklockwood unfortunately, is it far from over. Please notice how he didn't mention the cases of fetal defects. That means ->
— Olga Wojnarowska (@olga_woj) October 5, 2016
@doctorow @nicklockwood they might still want to force women to give birth even if there is no chance the baby would live.
— Olga Wojnarowska (@olga_woj) October 5, 2016
@doctorow @nicklockwood in 20 minutes, an urgent meeting will be held in Polish Sejm about this bill. This can still go very wrong.
— Olga Wojnarowska (@olga_woj) October 5, 2016
@doctorow @nicklockwood women in Warsaw are currently gathering in front of Sejm for an impromptu protest.
— Olga Wojnarowska (@olga_woj) October 5, 2016
The comments appear to indicate that Poland’s conservative leadership will withhold support from the highly unpopular proposal to ban abortions, even in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at risk.
The right-wing government, led by the Law and Justice party, is also under international pressure not to move forward with the idea, with a debate scheduled later Wednesday in the European Parliament on the situation of women in Poland.
After mass protests, Poland won’t back total abortion ban
[Vanessa Gera/The Associated Press]
(via Reddit)
(Image: @Pihtarihuorat)