Polish women don’t have access to abortion rights. The existing law allows for termination of pregnancy only in cases of a serious threat to woman’s health, severe damage of the fetus or rape. Its implementation proved to be complete fiction. Officially there are about 500 abortions a year in Poland while for example in Spain, a country with a similar population, the number exceeds 110 000. Non-governmental organizations estimate the number of abortions in the underground at 150 000 a year.
Illegal abortion is always unsafe, especially for women who can’t afford to pay for the procedure in dignified conditions. Those who don’t have enough money have to risk their health and life by using unsafe services and methods.
Polish authorities say they care about reducing the number of abortions but at the same time they do nothing to help women and their partners make informed decisions about parenthood. Reliable, science-based sexuality education is not provided in most schools in the country while contraceptives are expensive and hard to reach, especially for teenagers.
In late August or September the Polish parliament will consider the new bill on conscious parenthood. This progressive law would liberalize the regulations on abortion, making it legal until the 12th week of pregnancy, introduce free/subsidized contraception and comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
We need your help and support to convince Members of Parliament that this change is needed to ensure basic rights of Polish women are respected.
Please sign the petition now individually or as an organization/network.
Thank you!
