ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 2: Abortion debate
23
Why are feminist drones dropping
abortion pills on Poland?
An article from
The Conversation
.
By Anne-Marie Kramer, Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nottingham
A
Dutch feminist pro-choice
activist organisation, Women
on Waves, has been using a
drone to drop abortion pills across
the Polish-German border.
The aim of the flight has been
to highlight Poland’s restrictive
abortion laws – a consistent topic of
debate since the fall of communism
in 1989.
Abortion was available virtually on
demand in Poland between 1956
and 1989. Under state socialism,
difficult living conditions or a
difficult personal situation were
grounds for termination. But in
1993, the country’s comparatively
liberal
abortion
laws
were
comprehensively overturned. With
post-communism came one of the
most restrictive abortion laws in
Europe.
There have been numerous heated
parliamentary debates since then,
as well as repeated opinion polling
and many demonstrations that have
seen both pro-life and pro-choice
groups calling for changes to the
law.
Restrictive laws
Abortion is only legally permissible
in Poland under certain strict
conditions. If the pregnancy
constitutes a threat to the life or
health of a woman, if prenatal
examination
indicates
heavy,
irreversible damage of the embryo
or if an incurable illness threatening
the embryo’s viability, it is legal.
It is also legal if there is justified
suspicion that the pregnancy is
the result of an illegal act – but that
must be confirmed by a prosecutor.
The law was briefly liberalised in
1996 to allow for abortions on social
grounds until the 12th week of
pregnancy. But after that decision
was ruled unconstitutional, the
country reverted to its restrictive
legislation.
And even though Polish women face
greater difficulty than their fellow
Europeans in accessing abortion,
pro-life movements affiliated with
the Roman Catholic Church are still
very much mobilised. They want
to restrict access to abortion even
further.
The basic objective of the 1993
law was to increase the birth rate
and to reduce the numbers of
abortions carried out. But Poland
still has one of the lowest birth
rates in Europe. Meanwhile, a 2013
poll found that between a quarter
and a third of Polish women had
at least one abortion despite the
restrictions.
This is echoed by the World Health
Organization, which estimates
that countries in eastern Europe
(including Poland), have among
the highest abortion rates in the
world.
According to the Federation of
Women and Family Planning,
between 80,000 and 100,000
Polish women obtain abortions
each year. The fact that in 2011
only 669 legal terminations were
registered makes it clear that the
law is not stopping the procedures
from being carried out.
Underground abortion
Polish women obtain abortions
through a variety of routes. One
is via the so-called white coat
abortion underground, which
can be easily accessed through
newspaper adverts promising to
“restore menstruation” or provide
“gynaecological support – full
range”.
Such services are unregulated
and costly – the price is estimated
to exceed the average monthly
wage. Given that helping a women
obtain an abortion is an offence
punishable by imprisonment of
up to three years, these services
must also be kept secret.
The second major route is via
abortion tourism to Germany, the
Czech Republic, The Netherlands,
Austria, Great Britain and Slovakia.
However, as well as the cost of
travel, such procedures can cost
hundreds of euros.
