Abortion, church and politics in Poland.

Abstract

In early 1991 the abortion debate in Poland entered its new stage. The prolife and prochoice options had already clashed in the early 1930s over a new penal code and backstreet abortions. According to the code of 1932, induced abortion was allowed in cases of rape, incest, or for medical indications. Abortion was legalized in 1956, but subsequently it came under attack from Catholic circles, and by 1989 the Unborn Child Protection Bill was drafted which criminalized abortion. Only 11% of Polish women use modern contraceptives. The less efficient methods are the most prevalent: the natural method (Ogino-Knaus calendar), 35% of couples; coitus interruptus, 34%; condoms, 15%; oral contraceptives 7%; chemical spermicides, 2.5%; and the IUD 2%. According to size of Catholic Church estimate there are 600,000 abortions yearly. In contrast, official statistics indicate that the number of abortions is decreasing: 137,950 in 1980; 105,300 in 1988; 80,100 in 1989; 59,400 in 1990. In January 1991 the Constitutional Tribunal dismissed the motion of the Polish Feminist Association against the restrictive regulations of the Ministry of Health concerning abortion. After a parliamentary stalemate on the Unborn Child Protection Bill a commission consisting of 46 persona (1.2 of them women, 20 persons from the prochoice and 24 from the prolife lobby) continued the debate on the bill. Public opinion polls conducted by independent groups in November 1990 showed that about 60% of citizens were against the Senate's draft. Since then interest in the abortion issue has dwindled, and only 200 women and men took part in a prochoice demonstration in front of the parliament on January 25, 1991. In the spring of 1989 and in September 1990 thousands had participated in similar demonstrations. The prevailing attitude is that if the antiabortion bill is passed nothing can be done.