“In Poland you restrict demonstrations, but you won't be able to do it here in Brussels”, Polish MEP Sylwia Spurek (Greens/EFA) told her government during a plenary debate on the right to abortion in Poland, called in reaction to the recent decision of the Polish Constitutional Court to restrict it even further (see EUROPE 12588/9).
A number of MEPs appeared in the Chamber, or by videoconference, dressed in T-shirts showing the rallying sign currently worn by Polish women mobilised against the decision. At the same time, a rally was also organised on the outskirts of the European Parliament in support of the demonstrators.
“We shouldn't have to hold such a debate today. It is intolerable to see in the European Union in the 21st century an attack on women's rights such as the one we are witnessing today in Poland”, deplored Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spain).
“We cannot accept that our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers”, she added. Like her, many women MPs reported a violation of women's human rights beyond Poland's borders.
María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (GUE/NGL, Spain) said that “now we are all in danger”. “A setback in Poland is a setback for everyone”, concurred Samira Rafaela (Renew Europe, Netherlands).
On behalf of her group, she also called for the suspension of EU funds to Poland in the absence of respect for fundamental rights by the country. She also called for sexual and reproductive rights to be included in the European Commission's health strategy.
Indeed, several speakers pointed out that this decision could lead to more women resorting to illegal abortions.
But “an illegal abortion is accepting to put a woman's life in danger. It means accepting the use of medieval methods and serious health complications until death”, said French MEP and gynaecologist-surgeon Chrysoula Zacharopoulou (Renew Europe).
Resolution. A motion for a resolution on the right to abortion in Poland will be put to the vote on Thursday 26 November. The EPP finally decided to join the joint text defended by the S&D, Renew Europe, the Greens/EFA and the GUE/NGL (see EUROPE 12607/20).
Finally, a large number of MEPs co-signed a letter addressed to the European Commission on Tuesday 24 November from more than 200 MPs from across Europe. They call on the institution to open an infringement procedure against Poland regarding this decision of the Constitutional Court as well as the Polish localities declared “free of LGBTI ideology” (see EUROPE 12530/19).
“Polish citizens are EU citizens and they rightly insist that the EU institutions, in particular the Commission, must defend their rights”, the signatories stressed.
Consult the letter: https://bit.ly/2V3veJq (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)