“When the state fails to protect us, I’ll stand by my sister” “I think, I feel, I decide”, “This is War”... These three slogans have been repeated often on banners carried at the protests in Poland.
On October 22, the new Polish Constitutional Tribunal decided to make almost all cases of abortion illegal in Poland. The Tribunal also decided to compose an LGBTQ+ free zone. Despite the pandemic, the street’s response to this human rights abuse was immediate. So, how did this happen? And how can it be stopped?
After being the first country in Europe to knock over communism, Poland is pushing the European Union into crisis. The PIS, a national conservative and right wing populist political party ruling Poland, is bringing oppression back to the country. PIS is openly rebelling against the European Union, violating its top tier rule of law. However, while political and media attention has so far focused on the risks posed to the judiciary, a new report released today shows how these attacks also have extremely concrete consequences on women’s sexual and reproductive liberty and LGBTQ + persons’ rights. This is merely one of the many solid evidence on how the current situation in Poland allows PIS to violate human rights. A shocking turn for a country that just a few years ago was hailed as one of Europe’s most promising young democracies.
The result will be distressing for women and their families, since they are forcing some of them to continue through pregnancies against their will. It includes women with severe and irreversible disability, or incurable and life-threatening disease of the fetus. Moreover, Dozens of small towns have declared themselves free of the "LGBTQ+ ideology". Politicians' hostility towards gay rights has become a flashpoint pitting the religious against the liberal polish citizens. Gay people living in these areas are faced with a choice: immigrate, keep their heads down, or fight back.
Today, Poland is undergoing its biggest protests in decades due to the abortion ban. Hundreds of thousands are marching through streets, blocking traffic, holding sit-ins in churches, which is considered a symbolic move in a Catholic majority country. Additionally, women rights activists were protesting the decision and have made it clear that the journey to reproductive freedom does not end here.
The protests are also far more passionate than they have been in the past: Protesters adopted a lightning symbol as their focal point, and chanted “This is war.” Their banners have angry and defiant slogans, and are heavily laced with blasphemy. Unsurprisingly, government representatives criticized their tone as vulgar and primitive.
At the end of the day, Poland is a Catholic country. So why are mass protests targeting churches? Also isn’t it the woman’s fundamental right to decide if they want to give birth to a child or not since they will be providing for the kids with no help from these officials?