A new debate on the state of the Rule of law in Poland was on the agenda of the European Parliament’s plenary session which ended on Thursday 16 December.
In particular, MEPs expressed concern about the recent questioning by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal of the role of the European Court of Human Rights (see EUROPE 12849/23) and the rule of European law (see EUROPE 12815/3).
However, many of the interventions focused on the new announcements regarding pregnancies in the country.
Poland - which already has a de facto ban on abortion (see EUROPE 12831/23) - is considering introducing a centralised pregnancy register from January 2022, which would force doctors to report all pregnancies and miscarriages to the government. In addition, a bill to create an “Institute of Family and Demographics” was adopted in first reading by the Polish Parliament in early December.
“We shall call the Polish government on that thousands of times, if needed, until it returns to the democratic path”, said Polish MEP Danuta Maria Hübner on behalf of the EPP on Wednesday, denouncing a system “straight from Orwell”.
“Polish women live in fear. The fear of being forced to give birth to a stillborn baby. Fear that an oppressive State will register them as pregnant and then prosecute them for miscarriage. The fear that a representative of the authorities would enter their divorce file to defend the sacred institution of the family”, added her compatriot Sylwia Spurek, for the Greens/EFA.
The coordinator of Renew Europe, Samira Rafaela (Netherlands), also denounced a “new attempt to gain control of women’s bodies” and called, like several MEPs, for Poland not to receive EU funds as long as it “continues to undermine women’s rights “. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)