reproductive rights

The Polish Sejm definitively rejected the citizen’s bill that would have introduced a total ban on abortion in Poland. Document introduced by the “Stop Abortion” coalition unleashed unprecedented women's demonstrations across Poland and abroad. Prof. Monika Płatek has prepared a legal opinion on the proposed law facilitating an understanding of the scale of the social protests.

In recent weeks Poland has witnessed an unprecedented mobilisation of women against the tightening of the already very strict abortion law. Gert Röhrborn from the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation sheds light on the background of these recent events.

Despite the unquestionable global progress concerning women’s autonomy, their human rights to decide freely and responsibly on sexual and reproductive health remain to an unacceptable degree unfulfilled. Therefore, this particular issue constituted the central theme of presentations at the Fourth International Gender Workshop in Warsaw. 

Polish accession to the European Union, the election of female representatives, and existing European legislation raised high hopes for the possibility of legislative improvements for women and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people. How, then, did the first decade of Polish female representatives in the European Parliament look? Has the presence of Polish women influenced the agenda of the institution? Have there been any issues with legislation concerning equal rights, equal opportunities, and anti-discrimination?

The Second International Gender Workshop held in Kyiv in October 2013 focused on how Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Poland have been dealing with backlash. Organizers from various offices of the Heinrich Boell Foundation presented gender projects in the region. Invited experts discussed gender education, sexual and reproductive rights of women, and cooperation with regard to LGBT issues.You are invited to read the article by Magdalena Grabowska about gender education in Poland. Another Polish input by Elżbieta Korolczuk deals with the debate on assisted reproduction in the contemporary Poland.

The prestige and the influence of the Polish Church is closely linked to the role it played historically when Poland was occupied by foreign countries throughout the 19th century. It then appeared as the only centre of stability and resistance against the invaders, giving force to the equation: ‘Polish = Catholic’.