As Polish Women Take to the Streets, Canada's silence is deafening
Written by: Morgana Adby
Polish women will not be tone policed as their rights are on the line. Their message to Prime Minister Morawiecki: “fuck off,” and “fuck the Law and Justice party [PiS].”
Polish protesters have taken to the streets amidst a public health lockdown to oppose new abortion restrictions. October 22, a constitutional tribunal ruled against abortions in response to fetal abnormalities. Thousands of protesters, mostly young people, began demonstrating. November 2, the government indefinitely postponed publishing the decision.
The protests are the largest in Poland since anti- communist demonstrations in the 1970s. Women are also striking, although it is unclear how many participated in the strike.
Constitutional Tribunal Troubles
The new restrictions have no power unless there is a legislative response or the government publishes the decision. Early polls indicate that the proposed restrictions are unpopular. Yet, the Prime Minister needs to maintain good relations with the traditionalist wing of the PiS, who are a key voting bloc for the party. He is stuck walking an impossible line between women asserting their rights and the righteous indignation of traditionalist groups.
It is unclear what happens after a Polish government refuses to publish a constitutional ruling. Also unclear, whether they reserve the right to invoke the ruling at a later date.
A refusal to publish the constitutional tribunal ruling may speak to the weakening of Polish institutions. The PiS is already under international scrutiny for consolidating power.
As Amnesty International noted, “since coming to power in 2015, the Law and Justice government has undermined the Constitutional Tribunal’s independence and its effectiveness as a check on the executive.”
In full context, that quote links the tribunal’s recent ruling to PiS influence. However, the information can also be interpreted as a warning for the future. Poland uses a civil code rather than common law, it can be challenging to judge the exact weight of this precedent within that system.
The anti-abortion ruling likely happened because the PiS wanted it, and it is likely the ruling was not published because the PiS did not want the backlash. That makes a toothless constitutional tribunal Poland’s new normal.
What Does Patriarchy Look Like?
Far-right groups have responded to women’s rights advocates’ outrage with threats of violence. Churches and religious orthodoxy have been targets of the pro-choice direct action. Far-rights groups are responding with a blend of cultural-nationalist rhetoric and substantive violence.
The Polish government is not deterring the far-right’s threats. Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS's leader, said Poland was in a cultural civil war and urged supporters to defend the church at all costs. Meanwhile, far-right groups feel emboldened by the larger government response and the selective application of the rule of law. Tear gas has been used against pro-choice protesters marching on Parliament. Meanwhile PiS members are framing the demonstrations as an imminent theat.
The right- wing tabloids are having a field day. Paweł Lisicki, head editor of Do Rzeczy, wrote, “On Thursday, the Polish Constitutional Court decreed that eugenic abortion is incompatible with the Polish constitution.”
This is how Lisicki paints a menacing picture. “The protesters have shown a willingness for violence and have attacked the police with rocks, destroyed a police vehicle and vandalized Ronald Reagan’s statue in Warsaw. Now, feminists have also conducted protests against churches.” For him, the women’s demonstrations are comparable to, “methods used by Poland’s occupiers in the past.”
Reuters reported that Warsaw’s mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, has attended and expressed support for the women’s marches. Trzaskowski also called off the annual Independence Day march over coronavirus concerns. The Polish Prime Minister has also said that he does not want the Indepence Day march to go forward. Far-right organizers rejected the mayor's decision and insist the march will go on, under the slogan“our civilization, our rules.” Head organizer Robert Bakiewicz said that he will be challenging Trzaskowski’s decision in court.
The Guardian reported that this public pushback is about more than abortion rights--it’s about women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, separation of church and state, healthcare, and full judicial independence. Just over a thousand lawful abortions took place in Poland last year. Only 30 of those would be compatable with this constitutional development. Abortion already had a significantly higher barrier to entry than in Canada.
But more significantly, the protests are a declaration of women's rights. With every sign that tells the PiS to “fuck off,” is really telling the patriarchal forces within Poland to let women live without oppression.
Government opposition to women’s liberty is not new in Poland. Jewish and Roma women, have always seen their rights attacked in Poland. The government does not prioritize women's safety even as violence against women is prevelant.
Cultural Growth and Metrics of Progress
As with all discourse on international women's rights, it is important to avoid reductive explanations. There is nothing uniquely bad or broken about Polish culture. Religious institutions in Poland are not essentially against women’s liberty. Polish people are not backwards and anti-progress. The solution is not to simply be more like Western European countries.
Reductive ideas like those dismiss the Polish understanding women’s liberty. It also overwrites the progress that Polish women's groups have made in that cultural context. The white savior complex within international women's rights groups fell out of fashion over ten years ago. Not just because of the imperial overtones, but also because it is not helpful. For feminists to work together across borders, they need a mutual understanding of context and goals.
Metrics of liberty and progress are highly contextual. The lesson is not ‘religion bad, orthodoxy bad.” Rather, the lesson is that Polish women are not subservient to those weaponizing cultural institutions.
In many ways this story is one of women declaring their democratic power. They have drawn a line in the sand and dared Prime Minister Morawiecki to cross it. Many have commented that the PiS wrongly assumed they could add these restrictions quietly during the lockdown.
Polish women reminded Prime Minister Morawiecki that he works for them, and that if he crosses certain lines there will be consequences. He needs them to work, to comply with his lockdown, and to stay quiet enough for him to do his business. The PiS should not be so quick to forget how much they need women, and the power women have. Historically, women are no stranger to enfranchising themselves.
As of November 6, Global Affairs Canada has not made a statement on these events. The Canadian government has not weighed in on the international stage either.
Canada has diplomatic, trade and multilateral relations with Poland. When Poland joined NATO, Canada was the first to approve the addition in 1998. In 2019, Canada exported about 7.5 hundred million dollars in trade to Poland.
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