The European Parliament’s Committees on Women's Rights and Civil Liberties heard, on Wednesday 24 February, from activists, experts and representatives of the Polish government on the de facto ban on abortion in the country (see EUROPE 12588/9).
They vigorously defended the decision of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in this regard, despite the criticism voiced by a large majority of MEPs for several weeks (see EUROPE 12654/5) and reiterated on Wednesday.
Recalling that it is up to the Member States to legislate on this subject, the Polish ambassador to the European Union, Andrzej Sadoś, said that Poland is “consistently fighting for the right to live” and did not expect “any political interference from the EU institutions in this matter”.
Mr Sadoś also recalled the signature by Poland in 2003, as part of its accession procedure, of a public morality declaration stating “that nothing in the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU [...] shall constitute an obstacle to the Polish State in regulating matters of moral significance”.
He also denied any violation of international law. The Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, had, a few minutes earlier, indicated that the Polish decision had been judged, at the United Nations level, to be contrary to the country’s international human rights obligations.
Dorota Bojemska, Chair of the ‘Family Council’ - a Polish ministerial body - refuted the accusations of State control over the Constitutional Tribunal. The latter “has always been in favour of the right to life, regardless of its composition”, she insisted, praising the “very high social position” of women in Poland.
Speeches in total opposition to the testimony given by Marta Lempart, leader of the Polish Women’s Strike movement. “We are losing our jobs, our families are suffering, we have been detained, we have been beaten. The Polish State treats its citizens as its enemies”, she lamented. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)