- Justyna Wydrzynska and other members of Abortion Dream Team open the first abortion centre opposite Parliament
Ahead of the opening of an abortion centre, led by an abortion rights collective and located opposite the Polish parliament building in Warsaw, Monica Costa Riba, Amnesty International’s Women’s Rights Senior Campaigner, said:
“Today is an important moment for the protection of the right of pregnant people in Poland to access abortion. We celebrate the opening of this centre – the first of its kind – and offer our full solidarity to the activists who work tirelessly in deeply challenging conditions to make this possible.
“The activities of the centre are even more needed given the failure of the Polish authorities to guarantee the abortion rights of women, girls and everyone who can become pregnant.
“For years, the repeated targeting of the Abortion Dream Team’s activities and the prosecution of Justyna Wydrzynska have demonstrated how far the Polish authorities and anti-rights groups will go to try and shut down legitimate activism and curtail reproductive rights.
“Authorities in Poland must respect and protect the right of abortion rights defenders to conduct their legitimate activities without fear of legal sanction or prosecution, as well as take long overdue action to revise the country’s restrictive abortion law and ensure access to safe abortion for all who need it.”
Background
The abortion centre will provide information about abortions abroad, self-care, and accompaniment to people who decide to have self-managed abortions with pills.
Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Abortion is only legal when the health or the life of the pregnant person is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Performing your own abortion or possession of abortion pills for a self-managed abortion is not a crime under Polish law, but any person or doctor who helps a pregnant person with an abortion outside the two permitted grounds in the law may face up to three years in prison.