AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
22 March 2018
Poland: Mass demonstrations against dangerous abortion restrictions
- Spokespeople will attend the protest and be available for interview
Mass demonstrations are planned in Warsaw tomorrow as thousands are expected to take to the streets to protest a proposal to further restrict access to abortion in Poland.
“This proposal, if enacted, would place women’s health and lives at risk. Parliament must listen to women in Poland who are saying loud and clear that they will fight against this attack on their bodies and their health,” said Draginja Nadazdin, Director of Amnesty International Poland.
The Polish parliament is debating a new draft bill entitled “Stop Abortion.” If adopted, this would further limit the already restrictive grounds on which women can lawfully access abortion services in Poland, by banning abortion in situations where there is a severe or fatal foetal anomaly. Official statistics show that it is in such cases that the majority of legal abortions in Poland are carried out.
The demonstrations come more than a year after the large-scale mobilization dubbed the Black Protest forced the government into an historic U-turn on a proposed almost total abortion ban.
Solidarity demonstrations will take place in other cities including Brussels, London, Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin.
“Women in Poland are strong and determined and we will defeat this threat. But we should not have to fight our own members of parliament to get our basic rights.”
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office on [email protected] +32 2 548 27 73 or +32 483 680 812
Joint statement from over 200 human and women’s rights groups from across the globe