During the recent protests, the network’s number was spray-painted on buildings, statues, signs and churches across Poland. Abortion Without Borders has subsequently reported a huge rise in the number of calls it receives (from 400 a month to almost 600 in the days after the first protests).
The network has reportedly raised around €250,000 since the protests started. Its Polish partner, the Abortion Dream Team, is collecting donations online, as is Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike), the grassroots movement mainly coordinating the protests in Poland, and groups of paramedics providing first aid for protesters.
Women on Web, a Canadian non-profit group providing help and information on safe abortion and contraception, is also collecting donations for its work. They answer questions online from pregnant people around the world, including in Poland, who are looking to access safe medical abortion services.
Petitions and open letters
Demonstrations have been held daily in Poland since the court ruling. The government has deployed riot police and military force to confront the protestors. The police have used pepper spray, tear gas and made arrests.
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the ultra-conservative and populist ruling party Law and Justice, accused protestors of “destroying Poland”, being “criminals” and “exposing a lot of people to death” due to COVID-19. On several occasions, ultranationalist and far-right groups have attacked protestors.
Globally, dozens of rights groups have signed a statement urging the Polish government to respect the right of freedom of assembly, and asking the EU and the international community to “act with urgency to prevent violence against peaceful protestors and attacks on women human rights defenders”.
Petitions backing Polish women’s rights have been launched by Amnesty International and on other platforms. The global group Center for Reproductive Rights issued a statement. In Italy, dozens of women’s and LGBTIQ rights groups, trade unions and other civil society organisations signed an open letter addressed to EU leaders and Italian ministers demanding that they support the Polish protests and publicly condemn the abortion ban.
In the UK, a petition is asking the government to urge its Polish counterpart to “reconsider its approach to abortion and ensure that women’s rights are protected”.
Political support
Politicians from several countries are also raising their voices. The leaders of five political groups at the European Parliament (European People’s Party, Socialists and Democrats, the Greens, Renew Europe and United European Left) wrote a letter to Poland’s prime minister protesting what they called an “unprecedented attack on the rights and freedoms of women”.
The letter expressed solidarity with “the thousands of Polish women and men who, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, took to the streets of cities and towns across Poland” in response to the constitutional court’s ruling.
Print
Claudia Torrisi | Radio Free (2020-11-05T12:55:00+00:00) From Chicago to Kiev, women send solidarity to Poland after abortion ban. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/11/05/from-chicago-to-kiev-women-send-solidarity-to-poland-after-abortion-ban/
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