Hundreds of thousands of bodies throng in the streets, moving in unison to the beat of the same cause. It’s enough to induce a Coronavirus panic attack. But these women and their allies are answering a call much older than the current pandemic, and one with much wider ramifications. They march for control of their reproductive rights, and beyond that slight issue, many also march for the secularisation of Poland. To reclaim the rights they have already lost under an increasingly fascist, right-wing party.
“This is war”
Over three weeks, hundreds of thousands of protestors have marched across 150 cities in Poland. They utilise the four foundations of many women’s strikes that came before: nudity, protest, chaos and solidarity.
In Warsaw, protestors blocked rush-hour traffic, blinding drivers by setting off firecrackers and standing proudly naked from the waist up on cars. A defiant message that they alone have autonomy over their body’s.
Across the rest of Poland, women trade their jobs for mass protests. Many groups target Catholic churches and disrupt their services. Everywhere people can hear them chanting “this is war”.
These have been the largest protests since Solidarność (Solidarity) toppled the communist regime in Poland.
What caused the strike?
The strike began on October 22nd when the Constitutional Tribunal, which had been unlawfully stacked with judges loyal to the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), voted 11-2 in favour of banning abortions where the foetus is diagnosed with serious and irreversible birth defects. Poland already has some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, with only around 1,000 legal abortions taking place each year, 98% of these are because of serious or fatal birth defects. For many women, their final life-line for safe pregnancies has been snatched away. And it had been a long time coming.
The Strajk Kobiet (women’s strike) and its red lightning bolt emblem debuted in 2016 when anti-abortion movements presented a petition to tighten restrictions. Fortunately for the people, the petition had to make its way through parliament and following the public backlash it was quickly shot down. The strike went on to be called Black Monday, as pro-choice activists chose to don all black to mourn for their reproductive rights.
Both strikes were organised by Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet (OSK, or All-Polish Women’s Strike). Who proved once again, that through grass-root actions people have the power to face governments as their equals.
Anti-abortion movements and PiS did not dwell in this failure for long though. Poland’s government, like many of its contemporaries, had already had its visit from the ghosts of fascists passed. And heading their lessons wisely, they had been stacking the Constitutional Tribunal with loyalists. So that this time, when they wanted to galvanise their supporters, they were easily able to circumvent democracy.
Unfortunately for PiS, this move seems to have backfired as many of their own voters are against the new law. While surveys show that more than 60% of Poles support previous abortion laws, 59% of the country oppose the new legislation.
What’s more, is that this wave of protests has given space for anti-government sentiments that have been simmering under the surface to finally boil over. PiS lit the fire beneath their own pan.
The legislation
Currently, abortion is legally allowed under three circumstances:
- Where the woman’s life is in danger
- Where there is a risk of serious and irreversible damage to the foetus
- Where the pregnancy is as a result of rape or incest (this must be confirmed by a prosecutor)
But now a new ruling has come from Julia Przyłębska, president of the Constitutional Tribunal. She claimed that allowing abortions where there is a risk of serious and irreversible damage to the foetus was incompatible with an article in the constitution that states, “[we] shall ensure the legal protection of the life of every human being”.
Except of course the mothers.
“Think of the children”
For a while, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the deputy prime minister and puppet master of PiS rebuked the protesters. Claiming that this was really a discussion about Down Syndrome, he said:
“It’s a cruel thing to do, to kill unborn children on the basis of the fact that they may carry a Down’s syndrome… Should we discriminate against people with Down’s syndrome? These people have the exact same right as every other human being”
Polish fact-checking site Konkret24 stated that last year 24.2% of all abortions were performed due to the diagnosis of trisomy 21, or Down’s syndrome.
Speaking to TOKFM when PiS first attempted to pass the law, gynaecologist Professor Romuald Debski gave a more unsettling version of what could happen if the law comes into place.
“Whoever causes the death of the unborn child is punishable by imprisonment up to three years. If I have a patient with pre-eclampsia, who is 32 weeks pregnant, I will have to let her and her child die.
“I have to, because if I perform a caesarean section and the child dies, I may go to prison for three years, because the child was premature.” (translation taken from the BBC)
In the same BBC article listed above, critics of the law also stated that this law may persecute women who miscarry early in their pregnancy. Critics argue that they will be liable to prove that they did not in fact have an abortion. Liable to relive the trauma once again, this time in public, under the eagle eyes of a leering judge.
The beginning of the end for PiS
On October 27th, just five days after the strike started, OSK presented a list of demands to the court. Their declaration of war shifted as more people joined them. They listened to the protestors, took in their banners and slogans and joined their voices in unison. These were their demands:
- Full women’s rights: legal abortion, sex education, and contraception
- “the return of a real (independent) Constitutional Tribunal”
- “the return to a neutral (independent) Supreme Court of Poland that is not controlled by PiS,”
- “the appointment of a real (independent) Polish Ombudsman , to succeed Adam Bodnar, who reached the end of his term.”
- Interpreting the Constitutional Tribunal’s new ruling as merely president Julia Przyłębska personal testimony, as opposed to a legal ruling
- And finally, the overthrow of the Law and Justice party itself
In response, on October 30th, President Duda seemed to slightly roll back on the new law. In order to find “political consensus on [the] matter”, the three original grounds for legal abortion would stay but only when “prenatal tests or other medical indications indicate a high probability that a child will be born dead or burdened with an incurable disease or defect leading inevitably and directly to the death of the child”.
Perhaps PiS had a change of heart, or perhaps they could feel the rope tightening around their necks.
Regardless, these women will not take such meagre concessions. What started as a protest for reproductive rights has now become a populist campaign for the identity of Poland itself. Since Duda gave his speech on finding a political consensus, OSK formed the Rada Konsultacyjna (the consultative council). Founder Marta Lempart, called for people “experienced in overthrowing regimes” to join the cause.
There are currently 20 people on the council. One such appointment I’m particularly excited about is of Mirka Makuchowska from the Campaign Against Homophobia. With these new voices come even more sweeping demands. The council will not only fight for the demands they presented to the court but have increased their aims to include tackling climate change, reforming education, ending fascism, fighting for secularisation and liberating and honouring the lives of the LGBTQ+ community that has repeatedly been criminalised and persecuted against by the current regime.
As of this date changes to Poland’s abortion laws have not been published. The rule can not go into effect until it is.
The lesson we all must learn
Women striking to influence politics is not new, nor is it ever a feeble attempt. Women’s strikes have changed the courses of democracy and even ended wars. This strike was modelled after the Icelandic Women’s Strike of 1975, which created a legacy that led to Iceland becoming one of Europe’s most feminist nations. I look forward to the future, to see what the women of Poland achieve.
The reason behind the success of women’s strikes is simple. We are the largest minority. Larger than any race, sexuality, religion, disability or class. And our labour is essential to all areas of society and capital. All that is needed to unleash this political force is for the citizens to internalise the power that exists in them as a collective, united under a common cause. When that happens those in control will be forced to listen.
For the women of Poland, the test will be how many of their demands are met. They will only be able to do this if they keep appealing to the masses, and as long as they honour the intersectional philosophy they have adopted, I am sure they will succeed.
But this is not a skirmish, this is war.
What do you think of the events that are taking place in Poland? Will they make the lasting change they are hopeful of, or are they likely to fizzle out as people go back to their daily lives?
TL;DR:
Women and allies in Poland have spent the past three weeks protesting against a ruling that will essentially make abortions illegal. The ruling party, PiS, used the court system they had illegally stacked to pass the law without it going to a vote in Sejm (the lower house of parliament). However, the ruling has proven majorly unpopular, even with their own voter base. PiS has now some-what bowed to pressure from the protestors and although the law isn’t off the table, it has been withdrawn from publishing (which is needed to put it into effect). However the party has perhaps played into their own downfall, as the grassroots organisers of the strike Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet (OSK or All-Polish Women’s Strike have become emboldened. Armed with a list of demands that extend way past reproductive rights. The battle now wages for the very soul of Poland.
Strong Opinions, Loosely Held 