Second time lucky for Poland´s attack on women´s rights

Black Monday: Women in Warsaw march for reproductive rights

A BILL has passed in Poland making it harder for women and girls to access the morning after pill.

The right-wing populist Christian Democrat party, Law and Justice, currently running the country has passed legislation making the morning after pill a prescription only medication.

This is problematic as it not only means women and girls aged 15 and above will have to make an appointment and see a GP before they are given the pill it also gives doctors the option to refuse, a decision which could be effected based on personal or religious beliefs.

The ones deemed most at risk of being affected are rape victims who will have to find a doctor, explain the situation and then receive help or not depending on who the doctor is. People living in the more remote parts of the country will also see increased difficulty.

The legislation has previously been attacked by human rights groups and defies the European Medicine Agency guidelines regarding the drug.

The recently passed bill has caused heavy criticism in the EU and European countries as it contradicts their collective values. Dutch MEP, Sophie in ’t Veld, said that the bill goes “against the health interests and wishes of Polish women and girls”. The bill is within the country´s jurisdiction however.

This is the second time Law and Justice has sparked international criticism after its attempt last year to introduce a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and heavily damaged foetuses, which would have seen Poland become one of the worst countries in Europe for reproductive rights along with Malta and Vatican City.

In last year´s case women and girls went on strike and, wearing black, flooded the streets of cities across the country in what was called Black Monday which gained such wide support that the bill was cancelled.

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