As many people are aware, abortion laws are different across the world. We have the extremes of death penalty for abortions in the Asian countries to abortions being legal in countries like England. But what is the law like in more modern Western Countries? Do all Western Countries allow women to abort their children with no consequences?
In this article I will be focusing on a life-changing law introduced in Poland in 2021, and how this is really affecting the whole world.
As many will know, in 2021 Poland introduced a new law meaning that abortion is allowed only in cases of rape or incest or when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. Although this is not a total ban on abortions, this made significant changes to the freedom and liberty of women living in Poland. Many demonstrations took place across the whole of Poland, and even reached a world-wide audience with protests taking place in England. The demonstrations began when the Polish government began conversations about changing the law and continued after the law was put in place. But the efforts of those affected and not in support of the law made no difference. To this day women are still fighting for their freedom, freedom of choice.
So, what has this really taught us?
During the demonstrations we were able to see just how easy it is for countries to come together and support one another. It helped us to understand the importance of women uniting to fight for the same goal. It also showed us that Feminism is still a positive initiative and goes further than just women advocating for equality.
But not everything that we can learn from this is positive. There will now be an increase of illegal abortions across Poland, with many risking their lives just to have a choice (alone in 2021 more than 30,000 Polish women sought illegal or foreign abortions). It also taught us how much power a government holds and even in modernised countries there is a possibility of such restrictions that hinge on inflicting Human Rights.
As we move forward from this law being in place, we need to remember that women across the world are faced with this problem. But if we carry on pursuing as one to fight for these women’s rights, then we can make significant changes. We need to stay strong for the restricted women and bring countries together again to protect the restricted and vulnerable women.
So, what can you do?
Get involved in protests, send letters to local/national organisations to ask for change, sign petitions, but most of all support those women that are not as lucky as we are in England.
Please sign this petition as the first move you make for change for these women, to help not only women in Poland but women across the world: https://chng.it/b2bFQQJKXj
---- Klaudia Wasilewska, Guest Blogger
