What is it that could've sparked possibly the largest demonstrations in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989? What made us see tens of thousands of Polish citizens, ignoring the perils posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, taking to the streets in protest of the government? What caused the Polish roads to be filled with women sporting the red lightning sign on them, supported by thousands of men and a wide array from different sections of the society? Which decision, made by the Law and Justice Party, caused around 400 demonstrations totalling 430,000 protestors?
This outrage arose following the decision made by Poland’s constitutional tribunal on the 29th of October, which deemed abortions performed on the grounds of a malformed foetus, unconstitutional. In the ruling, the tribunal’s president Julia Przylebska argued that permitting abortions in the case of foetal deformities legalised “eugenic practices concerning an unborn child, thus denying it the respect and protection of human dignity”. Przylebska argued that since the Polish constitution assures a right to life, abortion based on a foetal malfunction was “a directly forbidden form of discrimination”. A New York Times report points out that 11 out of 12 of the judges were appointed by the ruling party and the president Przylebska, is a longtime friend of the party’s leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski[1]. This, however, doesn’t come as a surprise as a very controversial law, forcing several Supreme court judges into retirement who were then replaced by others loyal to the Law and Justice Party, was passed in April 2018. The EU Court of Justice also ruled that this law was in contrary to the EU law and threatened to act based on Poland’s violation of Article 7 of the EU treaty, but Poland got away with making slight changes to it[2].
While abortions of pregnancies resulting from rape and those endangering the lives of women are still formally legal, this acted as a final blow to several women and pro-choice groups who were already threatened by the existing autocratic Law and Justice Party. Some critics also view this ruling as a tactic employed by the government to distract its citizens from their lack of preparedness to deal with the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. One of the most surprising aspects of these protests is the anger directed at the clergy, since 33 million of it’s 38 million people are registered as Roman Catholic. People expressed their hatred towards the church and felt that it was in dire need of reform or else would serve as the cause of the downfall of Poland. Young men clad in black and armed with pepper spray — many with shaved heads — have become a nightly presence outside churches and cathedrals. They have confronted protesters, and several brawls have been reported near churches in Warsaw and elsewhere.
The decision on abortion by Poland’s top court cannot be appealed, since the opinion has yet to be published, it is not yet technically legally binding. President Andrzej Duda, recovering from Coronavirus, said that he was open to some compromise. He even consulted with women and experts, submitting a proposal of changes to the Parliament. However, the Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of Law and Justice Party and effective leader of the government, has taken a confrontational stance and refuses to bend. He claimed that these protests aimed to destroy the Polish nation and its history, going on to denounce any politicians that supported these protests. The education minister of Poland also threatened to cut funding to any university that encouraged these protests.
This protest was a culmination of several steps taken by the Law and Justice Party to actively jeopardize the LGBT movements, women’s and migrant rights. The right-wing party, which came into power in 2015 on the pretext of building Poland back to its might has only made things severely worse off. Around three months back, the government took several problematic decisions resulting in harming the LGBT community. They declared these protestors as legitimate threats and prompted dozens of localities to pass legislation declaring their regions free from “LGBT Ideology”. This vastly conservative country refuses to recognize LGBT activists as people helping the society but instead views them in the lens of their President Andrzej Duda, comparing them to the “communists that waved red flags and promised to help the poor”. A staggering 55% of the people are against gay marriage, while 80% are against the adoption of children by same-sex couples[3]. Although these “LGBT free regions” are unenforceable and are only in essence, they still go a long way in serving as ammunition in this culture war.
The next question essentially is, what lies ahead for the country of Poland? Can they free themselves from the shackles of a conservative and non-accepting mindset? The rather rigid stance taken by the autocratic Law and Justice Party, which stands for Law and Justice only in name, means the road ahead is going to be rough. But the signs of resilience shown by the protestors and the slow, yet steadily spreading acceptance of these communities instills hope. We shall avidly watch what happens as events continue to unfold in Poland.
Article by -
Ashwin Sarathi,
PES MUN Society
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