SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Poland is a very Catholic country and the Roman Catholic Church is very much against abortion. The government is also very anti-labor union.
The Committee for a Workers' International (socialistworld.net) reports
[Poland already] has one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in Europe, allowing abortion only in the case of rape, a threat to the health or life of the woman, or deformation of the foetus. In practice, even when these conditions are fulfilled abortion is often prevented by doctors who exploit the so-called "conscience clause" and impose their own religious beliefs on patients by refusing vital treatment.
This law was forced through at the beginning of the 1990s [...] (over 70% of the population was against an abortion ban and supported [...] abortion on demand).
[...] [Recent] plans to impose a total ban on abortion have sparked a massive uncontrolled explosion of anger in Poland. On Monday 3 October a strike of Polish women was called, inspired by the example of Icelandic women, who held a nationwide strike in 1975. [...] Even the police's conservative estimates talk about 98,000 people demonstrating in over 143 separate protests across the country. These are easily the biggest ever protests in defence of abortion rights in Poland, far exceeding the protests in 1993, when the current ban on abortion was introduced.
[This week's strike]
[Continues...]
[...] [In response to the proposed ban, and] inspired by the 1976 strike of women in Iceland, the idea was raised of organising a strike of women. This was not called by any of the trade unions, instead the idea came from within the movement by women who had no previous trade union or strike experience. However, due to the anti-trade union laws and the difficulty of organising a legal strike even by a trade union, women were not encouraged to actually strike, but rather to take a day off work on what was nicknamed Czarny poniedzialek (Back Monday).
Unfortunately many women were prevented from taking part in this strike because they [have lousy employment] contracts and have no right to a day off on demand. For example, Lidl supermarket chain threatened to sack staff who took a day off on Monday.
Finally, on the day of the strike, OPZZ, one of the three major trade union federations, expressed its support and pledged to defend its members from victimisation, should they decide to participate in the protest. Thanks to this, many public administration workers, particularly in local government, were able to strike. A number of theatres and small businesses announced they would close that day to allow their staff to participate. Many more women who had no option but to work dressed in black to express their support for the strike.
[...] Around 10,000 gathered outside parliament in the rain. There were no speakers, but the mood was loud and angry. There were rumours that several thousand protesters marched to Teatr Polski, the theatre where Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling party Law and Justice, was having a meeting.
[...] Law and Justice has been taken completely off guard by the movement. It did not plan to introduce a change in the abortion law, at least not this year, but was forced into taking a position by more right-wing elements and the church, who organised their own "citizen's [initiative]".
Due to the scale of the movement, Law and Justice has reacted by announcing that it will prepare its own compromise draft law, which will probably allow abortion in the case of rape and a threat to the life of the woman, but not in the case of a deformity of the foetus. This, of course, is not a compromise at all, but represents a further tightening of the ban and is completely unacceptable. However, it shows that the government is beginning to feel the pressure.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday October 07 2016, @03:52PM
Poland is very religious and has some really insane religious laws. Nergal, front man of the polish death metal band Behemoth, ripped up a bible on stage at a show in Poland and was charged with offending religious feeling or some such nonsense. That could have landed him in jail for upwards of two years. http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/court-rules-against-behemoth-frontman-in-bible-tearing-case/ [blabbermouth.net] He was dragged through the court for a few years until the case was dropped.
He also ripped up a bible on stage at a Kentucky show after the christian metal band The Devil Wears Prada gave it to him (that band sucks anyway). Even in Kentucky nothing happened to him or the band.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 07 2016, @07:50PM
Poland is very religious and has some really insane religious laws.
No. Polish people are religious *posers*, which is not the same as devout religious. They pretend to follow religion, but actually are not that religious. What happens is politicians and priests are conspiring together for their own goals - the church is literally telling which party to vote for and the politicians give bribes, err, donations, to the church.
so you get what you get because,
1. old people follow what the priest tells them to (these are pretty much the only religious people)
2. young people are apathetic
3. millions that could be more centrist left the country
4. Poland has quite a few nationalistic, xenophobic bigots
just look at the political landscape in Poland.
* PIS party, which is pissing on the people and is very right wing
* another right wing party, whatever it's name is, calls itself "liberal conservative" but is against everything that could potentially be considered liberal.
* a joke that run as a party.
* some libertarian nutters with flat tax idea
* some farmers party
* and 1 member from german minority in Opole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_parliamentary_election,_2015 [wikipedia.org]
the centrist and left coalition didn't even get 8% vote to get any representation and that is the Greens and Liberals and socialist parties.
Politicians are lamenting that "people don't have enough kids" and what not, many houses are empty, but god forbid they allow one refugee into Poland. Really, xenophobia, religious posers and right wing shortsightedness is what drives Polish politics these days. If it wasn't for EU laws, Poland would be totally fucked - EU laws is literally what is standing between Poland and abyss.
The state of Poland's politics is really really sad.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 07 2016, @08:11PM
Also, good read,
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/12abortion.html [nytimes.com]
A comprehensive global study of abortion has concluded that abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not, suggesting that outlawing the procedure does little to deter women seeking it. Moreover, the researchers found that abortion was safe in countries where it was legal, but dangerous in countries where it was outlawed and performed clandestinely.
Actually, the abortion rate is higher in Poland than in Germany.
http://www.dw.com/en/abortions-in-germany-decline-over-last-decade/a-18305629 [dw.com]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-02/black-monday-as-polish-women-strike-against-total-abortion-ban [bloomberg.com]
Federation for Women and Family Planning estimates the number of terminated pregnancies at around 80,000 per year, and as many as 200,000 including illegal procedures and those undergone abroad.
vs. real number of 100,000 in Germany, a country 2x the size. But no wonder, you make it illegal, then there is pressure to undergo the procedure when it is available, not when one makes a real decision.
The global rate of abortion has been declining over the past 20 years, according to research by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute published in the Lancet in July. In Europe, the rate declined from 52 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 annually in 1990-1994 to 30 two decades later.
Eastern Europe had the steepest decline of any region in the world, with abortions declining to 42 per 1,000 women from 88. The researchers also found that the rate of abortion was not associated with whether the procedure was legal or not.