Letter from a reader:

Massive Protests in Poland against Fascist Abortion Ban

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Editors’ Note: The following letter from a reader highlights the mass resistance to the horrendous ban on abortions enacted by the fascist regime in Poland, part of a worldwide trend of fascism that is white supremacist and misogynistic. As the reader highlights, the savage repression against the protesters has not “dampened the spirit and determination of the protesters who are continuing to carry out mass, sustained, nonviolent protest.” We heartily and strongly endorse the reader’s closing comments that not only should people support these courageous protesters, but take inspiration.

Hundreds of thousands of women are taking to the streets of Warsaw and other Polish cities and towns in outraged protest against an October 22 decree by the Constitutional Tribunal banning abortion for severe fetal abnormalities—which was essentially the only form of abortion practiced. While the formal right exists for abortion in cases of rape and when the mother’s life is in danger, the vast majority of women who need abortions are forced to leave the country or obtain an illegal one.

For over a week, women have been filling the streets daily in defiance of this brutal ban which would force women against their will to bring to term babies who have no chance of living healthy, productive lives. They have bravely faced down threats and attacks from right-wing gangs and militias. On Wednesday, October 28, protesters—mainly women but also some men—carried signs like “People before embryos” and “I wish I could abort my government.” They poured out of workplaces in a nationwide work stoppage. Groups of women marched wearing the red robes of the Handmaid’s Tale symbolizing the future of women’s subjugation that this decision represents. Protesters defiantly challenged the oppressive weight of the Catholic church on their lives, disrupting Mass in Catholic churches and staging sit-ins at cathedrals with women holding coat hangers as the symbol of dangerous illegal abortions, which is the fate that many now face.

The battle over the abortion decree has become a concentration point in an overall clash in society over increasingly aggressive moves by the ruling Law and Justice Party to impose a fascist form of rule on Polish society under the domination of the medieval morality of the Catholic Church which has long been a powerful force in Polish society. The Law and Justice Party gained control in 2015 under the banner of the nation “rising from its knees.” The initial focus of their fascist moves was against migrants, in conjunction with anti-immigrant fascist movements springing up throughout Europe at that time. Campaigns have since been launched against LGBTQ people with dozens of localities passing laws declaring themselves to be zones that are free of “LGBTQ ideology.” Since 2015, the Law and Justice Party has moved systematically to take control of the courts, forcing out justices from the Supreme Court to remake it into a rubber stamp for the ruling party and taking full control of the Constitutional Tribunal—the court which has now passed the anti-abortion decree. Through seizing control of the courts, in the face of mass protest, they have been bludgeoning through attacks on the basic rights of the people. Previous efforts by the ruling party to push an abortion ban through Parliament were defeated by opposition forces in Parliament and mass protests throughout society.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the deputy prime minister and main leader of the government, has met this wave of determined protest against the anti-abortion decree with nationalist calls to rally his fascist base. He preaches that the protesters are out to “destroy Poland and end the history of the Polish nation” and denounces those politicians who have dared to support the protesters as “criminals.” Meanwhile, other branches of the government are enforcing his clampdown. The Justice Ministry has ordered prosecutors around the country to target organizers of the “illegal gatherings,” and the education and science minister has threatened to cut funding for universities that have supported the protests, including by canceling classes.

Right-wing nationalist gangs have answered Kaczynski’s call, forming a “national guard” to attack the protesters under the guise of defending the churches with pepper spray and physical assaults. Gangs of “soccer hooligans” have also been unleashed to attack the protesters.

None of this has dampened the spirit and determination of the protesters who are continuing to carry out mass, sustained, nonviolent protest. The marches on Wednesday, October 28 were estimated at 430,000 people in 400 rallies around the country, and Friday, October 30 saw many 10s of thousands flooding the streets of Warsaw.

The decree from the Constitutional Tribunal cannot be appealed and is said to be irreversible. But the masses of women throughout Poland are refusing to accept what is unacceptable, refusing to live in a society that would foreclose on their ability to make basic decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures. One woman was quoted in the New York Times saying, “I feel a lot of hatred toward the church.” Another woman said, “I’m terrified and this is the main reason I’m here. I don’t want to see my country in such a condition.”

In the face of this continuing and so far irrepressible upsurge from below, the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who is not the primary leader of the country, has reportedly broken ranks and is suggesting some form of compromise. It’s not clear at this point how things will unfold.

People in this country and around the world should stand firmly in support of these courageous protesters. And everywhere that people are facing the rise and consolidation of fascism and theocracy—including right here in this country—should take inspiration from their brave and determined stand.

Warsaw protest against abortion banHundreds of thousands of women are taking to the streets of Warsaw and other Polish cities and towns in outraged protest against an October 22 decree by the Constitutional Tribunal banning abortion. (Photo: Twitter)

Polish women protest in churchGroups of women marched wearing the red robes of the Handmaid’s Tale symbolizing the future of women’s subjugation that the decision to ban abortion represents. Protesters defiantly challenged the oppressive weight of the Catholic Church on their lives, disrupting Mass in Catholic churches, here as handmaids. (Photo: Twitter)

 

 

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