Polish Left unveils “Plan for Mothers” ahead of elections

Poland’s main left-wing opposition has pledged to improve access to reproductive healthcare, to create 100,000 new nursery places, and to ensure equal pay for men and women in the same positions as part of a “Plan for Mothers” unveiled ahead of this year’s elections.

The Left (Lewica) argues that women’s rights have been eroded under the eight-year rule of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has overseen the introduction of a near-total ban on abortion, restricted access to contraception, and ended government funding for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

“It is not easy being a mother in this country,” said Katarzyna Kotula, an MP from The Left. “Unlike our counterparts in Sweden, France and Germany, the right to abortion, prenatal testing, in-vitro, and contraception [in Poland] is a sliver of freedom compared to what they have in their countries.”

“Women are simply afraid to get pregnant…under an uncomfortable atmosphere of surveillance and forced childbirth,” added Krzysztof Gawkowski, head of The Left’s parliamentary caucus. “What PiS has created, this atmosphere of surveillance, is simply detrimental to the health of mother and child.”

To address those issues, The Left has pledged to provide full access to prenatal testing, to eliminate the “conscience clause” that allows medics to refuse to provide certain treatments for religious reasons, and to restore over-the-counter morning-after pills and state funding for IVF treatment.

Meanwhile, it wants to ensure there is at least one nursery in each of Poland’s 2,489 districts (gminy), to increase paternity benefits to the same as the maternity allowance, and to introduce 100% sick pay, including when caring for a sick child.

The plan also promises equal pay for men and women in the same position – with an obligation for employers to report on their wage gap – and improved collection of unpaid alimony and child support.

“We want a state where every woman can be sure that she can afford to be a mother if she wants to and will not lose a penny of her salary because of it,” said Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, another of The Left’s MPs.

The various main groups campaigning for this year’s elections have all unveiled pledges they say are aimed at supporting parents in general and mothers in particular.

At the end of last year, the government announced its own plans to increase the number of daycare places for children aged three and under by 100,000. PiS also recently promised to increase the payouts from its flagship child benefit policy and to offer free medicines for children.

Civic Platform (PO), the largest opposition party, has campaigned for the return of state funding for IVF and promised to introduce monthly payments to mothers who return to work after maternity leave. Its leader, Donald Tusk, recently called women’s rights the “number one issue” in Poland.

Main image credit: Klub Lewicy/Flickr (under public domain)

Anna Hackett

Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.