| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 822.21 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
From being illegal until 1932, to being legal during the Communist regime, to the
compromise of 1993, the abortion law in Poland has been a hotly debated topic that arises
ever so often. With the electoral win of PiS in 2015, a new chapter of this debate began, as
this party acted to end the 1993’s established abortion legislation. Challenges to the
reproductive and women’s rights were not the only facet of this new governing party, with
attacks to the rule of law being reported and noticed nationally and internationally. In an
atmosphere of turmoil over another right-wing populist party being elected to government,
this dissertation centres on two different moments of the abortion debate in Poland: 2016 and
2020, both during PiS’ rule. In 2016 a citizen’s initiative entitled “Stop Abortion” (“Stop
Aborcji”) proposed a near-total abortion ban. This event would trigger large-scale grassroots
contestation in the streets: especially Black Monday, the largest mobilisation since the
Solidarity movement. This struggle eventually succeeded in maintaining the abortion law as it
was. In 2020, already with one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, Poland took
another step back: the K 1/20 judgement, from the Constitutional Court. This ruling in
October of 2020 considered unconstitutional to perform abortions when the foetus is severely
malformed or at high risk of impairment – coinciding with the majority of cases of legally
performed abortions in Poland. This move was also met with strong contestation on the
streets: the Strajk Kobiet protests, with the mobilisation in October of 2020 being one of the
largest to memory. The two events mentioned both sparked debates in the European sphere –
with the European Parliament becoming the centre stage for activism and international
solidarity, with MEPs siding with the protesters or the Polish government. Focusing on the
European Parliament (EP) debates “Women’s rights in Poland” (2016) and “Abortion rights
in Poland” (2020), but also and many scientific articles, news reports, books, the main goal of
this dissertation is to understand the factors behind the different positions on abortion in the
EP: either East/West, authoritarian populism/liberal democracy, Poland/Europe, or any other.