Poland delays near-total ban on abortion amid huge protests

Poland’s right-wing government has delayed implementation of a court ruling that would impose a near-total ban on abortions after two weeks of the largest protests the country has experienced since the 1989 collapse of communism.

The country already had one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws before its Constitutional Tribunal ruled Oct. 22 that terminating pregnancies for fetal abnormalities — one of three justifications for legal abortions and virtually the only type performed in the country — violated the constitution.

That ruling would have made the existing abortion laweven more restrictive.

But on Tuesday, the government indefinitely delayed publication of the court’s ruling, which prevents it from going into effect, in an apparent response to the protests. For the change to take effect, the government would have had to publish the ruling byMonday.

The government could publish the ruling at any time, as it has done with other controversial rulings, even though legal experts say that to do so would violate the constitution.

“A discussion is ongoing,” said Michal Dworczyk, the head of the prime minister’s office. “In this situation, which is difficult and causes a lot of emotions, it is good to give ourselves a bit of time for dialogue and for working out a new position.”

Ewa Letowska, a law professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences and a former judge at the Constitutional Tribunal, said the delaywas illegal.

“The publication of tribunal’s rulings is mandatory,” she said. “Although there were objections to the ruling, some of them

Poland has delayed implementation of a court ruling that would call for a near-total ban on abortions. Above, women watch as police march past Friday inWarsaw.

legitimate, delaying the publication is unconstitutional.”

Before the Constitutional Tribunal’s decision, Poland allowed terminations of pregnancies in cases of fetal abnormalities, a threat to a woman’s health, and incest or rape.

In practice, most legal abortions — 1,074 of 1,100 performed in the country last year — resulted from fetal abnormalities. Yet legal abortions represent only a small fraction of those obtained by Polish women, who seek terminations abroad or undergo risky illegal procedures.

The court’s ruling last month ignited a furor on the streets ofPoland. Ignoring COVID-19 restrictions andthe threatof skyrocketing new coronavirus cases, hundreds of thousands turned out, holding banners that read, “I wish I could abort my government,” and, “This iswar.”

The demonstrations across the predominantly Roman Catholic country also reflected a broader anger at the governing party over the erosion of democracy and other grievances, including its handling of the pandemic.

Critics accuse the government of circumventing parliament to introduce

the effective ban on abortion. They say the tribunal is under the thumb of the governing party, which appointed 14 out of 15 of its judges.

The government, led by the Law and Justice party, has also been accused by experts and the European Union of taking control of the judiciary. The court’s president, Julia Przylebska, is a long-term friend of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the party’s chair and Poland’s most important politician.

Some protesters disrupted services and confronted priests, attacking the institution of the Catholic Church, which holds a special place in Poland’s society after supporting the struggle against communism. The church is a close ally of the governing party.

Last week, Kaczynski called on his conservative supporters to “defend Poland, defend patriotism” and “defend Polish churches,” remarks that could be construed as encouraging them to clash with protesters.

Although protests have been peaceful, far-right activists, mainly young men dressed in black and armed with pepper spray and flares, have confronted protesters violently.