Poland’s government has still not published the constitutional court’s verdict that outlaws almost all abortions in the country. The ruling only comes into force once officially published. The deadline for the government to do so, on 2 November, has already passed.
The delay comes amid reported divisions in the ruling camp over how to proceed, with some factions favouring a “compromise” proposed by President Andrzej Duda that seeks to soften implementation of the ruling, while others push for a harder stance.
The court’s verdict has sparked two weeks of mass demonstrations in opposition to it. They are believed to be the largest protests in Poland’s post-communist history. Polling shows a large majority of Poles opposed to the ruling and a significant fall in support for the governing coalition.
The government is also facing pressure from the right, with its failure to publish the verdict drawing criticism from pro-life activists and the powerful Catholic church.
On 22 October, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that cases of abortion due to severe damage to the foetus – which accounted for around 98% of legal terminations in Poland last year – are unconstitutional.
The verdict will come into force once it is published in the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) by the Government Legislation Centre (RCL). The RCL received the ruling on 27 October but has so far failed to publish it.
On Tuesday, the head of the prime minister’s chancellery, Michał Dworczyk, explained that the delay was because they were taking “some time for dialogue and to work out a new position”.
Today, government spokesman Piotr Müller said they wanted “to calm the public mood” and allow for a discussion with “ethical experts, lawyers and medics”. He added that “sooner or later the verdict will be published because that is the nature of constitutional law,” reports Polsat News.
In a speech last week, Kaczyński said that the abortion protests aimed to "destroy Poland". He called on people to "defend Polish churches at any cost…defend Poland, defend patriotism. Only then can we win the war declared directly by our opponents" https://t.co/KksHOREVpr
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 5, 2020
The government had also initially explained that it needed time to consider the “legislative solution” put forward by President Duda on Friday. This would ban abortions in cases where conditions, such as Down syndrome, are diagnosed, while continuing to allow them for foetuses with fatal defects.
However, a parliamentary session that was likely to discuss the bill has been postponed for two weeks. The head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s parliamentary caucus, Ryszard Terlecki, said this was due to a number of parliamentary staff contracting coronavirus.
There have been reports that PiS is struggling to muster a majority of MPs to support Duda’s proposal. The Wprost weekly today wrote that 30-40 of the party’s lawmakers would not accept a watered-down implementation of the abortion ruling, and that any attempt to force them to do so would “split the party”.
One PiS MP, Zbigniew Girzyński, today publicly criticised both the delay in publication and Duda’s proposed “compromise”.
“I would like it to be published. This is a completely unnecessary delay,” Girzyński told Radio Plus. “[The president’s bill] is unnecessary. It’s a mistake by the president.”
The government’s delays have also drawn criticism from anti-abortion activists and the Catholic church, who welcomed the tribunal’s ruling last month.
“The failure to publish the ruling leads to many question marks,” said Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, the head of Poland’s Catholic episcopate, this week. Gądecki also criticised Duda’s proposal, saying that it would be a “form of euthanasia” and that no Catholic politician should support it.
Kaja Godek, a prominent activist, said that not publishing the verdict “under a political pretext” is a breach of the law. While the government fails to act, “children suspected of disease or disability continue to be murdered in hospitals”, she declared, saying this was a reason not to vote for PiS at the next elections.
The left-wing opposition – which is strongly opposed to the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling – has also criticised the government’s response to the crisis.
“They are counting on the protests dying down …They don’t know what to do with these protests, the protests are strong,” said Włodzimierz Czarzasty, a senior member of The Left (Lewica) and deputy speaker of parliament, reports TVN24.
According to Polish Press Agency sources, the main opposition group, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), will not back Duda’s proposal after discussing it at an internal meeting on 2 November.
“I’m afraid that this is another play by [PiS leader Jarosław] Kaczyński, who through the president’s mouth is trying to do something which won’t matter anyway,” said Budka.
One MP from KO, Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, has declared opposition not only to the president’s bill, but also to the existing abortion law, which she says has now “collapsed”. “It is time to liberalise the regulations,” declared Gasiuk-Pihowicz, quoted by Gazeta.pl
Polling has shown that a large majority of the public oppose the tribunal’s ruling and support the protests against it.
A majority say they want to keep the current abortion law, which is already the strictest in the European Union apart from Malta’s. Among those who support a change to the law, a larger proportion favour liberalisation than further restriction.
Polls have also shown a sudden and significant drop in support for PiS since the tribunal’s ruling. Duda yesterday recorded his worst poll ratings since becoming president five years ago: 42% now view him positively (down 13 percentage points) and 49% negatively (up 12 percentage points), found CBOS.
Main image credit: Jakub Porzycki / Agencja Gazeta
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
