The high court is under the political control of the governing right-wing Law and Justice party, which had faced pressure from an ultra-conservative group to further restrict what had already been one of the European Union’s most restrictive abortion laws. Mass nationwide protests have recurred repeatedly since then, growing into the largest protest movement in post-communist Poland.
The court’s judges argued that allowing abortion when there are congenital defects is unconstitutional because the Polish Constitution protects human life.
The only remaining legal justifications for abortion under Polish law are if the woman’s life or health is at risk or if a pregnancy results from rape or incest. To date, about 98% of all legal abortions in the country of which there were 1,110 in 2019 were performed on the grounds of fetal malformations.
Poles hold more protests over abortion law after detentions
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Why the Mexico City Policy is so significant
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President Joe Biden signs an executive order about climate change at the White House in Washington Jan. 27, 2021. Also pictured are Vice President Kamala Harris and White House science adviser Eric Lander. (CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)
WASHINGTON (CNS) President Joe Biden’s memo rescinding the so-called “Mexico City policy” Jan. 28, the eve of this year’s March for Life, “is a deeply disturbing move, especially when the president says he wants national unity,” tweeted Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Defense and Education Fund.
A number of other national pro-life leaders also criticized Biden for his decision, which was included in a “Presidential Memorandum to Protect and Expand Access to Comprehensive Reproductive Health Care.”
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CALGARY, Canada
When the Trump administration reinstated the “global gag rule” in 2017, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) lost some $100 million in funding in the following years, impacting a spectrum of healthcare projects in 32 countries and going well beyond the intended goal of preventing abortions.
A health clinic in Haiti’s southern coastal town of Jacmel was one of the first casualties.
Faced with a $300,000 funding cut, Profamil – a nonprofit that provides birth control, HIV testing, and cancer screenings – closed the Jacmel clinic and sent its workers home. Although abortion is illegal in Haiti, the group had been receiving most of its funding from IPPF.