Despite the judgement of the Constitutional Court of 2020, which ruled that there was a failure to comply with the Constitution with a provision allowing abortion due to the serious defects of the unborn child, the number of abortions in Poland began to increase. fresh data indicate that the number of abortions reached a level akin to that before the Constitutional Tribunal ruling.
October 22, 2020 The Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling on the non-compliance with the Constitution of a provision allowing abortion due to serious defects of the unborn child, or embryopathological condition. It seemed that the number of abortions in Poland would fall almost to zero, as this condition was the basis for most of about a 1000 treatments per year. For example, in 2020 for 1074 abortions as many as 1053 were performed due to birth defects of the child.
After the judgement of the Constitutional Tribunal, a legal abortion could only be carried out in 2 cases: erstwhile the pregnancy threatened the wellness or life of a female and erstwhile it was the consequence of a crime. In 2021, the number of treatments fell drastically to 32. However, data for 2023 show that the number of legal abortions began to emergence again, reaching 425 treatments – almost 3 times more than in 2022, erstwhile there were 161.
How is that possible in the context of our law?
It turns out that more abortions are being carried out on the basis of the condition of a woman's wellness risk, including intellectual health. In 2023 423 abortions were performed on this basis, while in 2020 there were only 21 abortions. specified a sharp increase may propose an effort to circumvent the provisions introduced by the 2020 Constitutional Court ruling. The increase in abortion on the basis of a intellectual wellness threat not only undermines the intended intent of the legislation, but besides raises serious doubts as to the compatibility of specified practices with the Constitution. The introduction of specified an explanation of the rules violates the constitutional principles which the Court sought to defend in its judgment.
Although women’s intellectual wellness is an crucial issue, the usage of abortion as a solution to intellectual problems may not only bring the expected relief, but even exacerbate emotional difficulties. Decisions on abortion in specified cases can be taken besides hastily, without adequate analysis of the long-term consequences for the intellectual wellness of the woman.
Such interpretations of the rules violate the principles of the protection of human life and the integrity of the laws aimed at limiting abortion. The usage of intellectual wellness as a basis for abortion constitutes an unintended loophole in the legal system, which in fact leads to abuse and weakening of the legal foundations of protection of life.
In practice, the premise of "mental wellness threats" becomes a widely utilized pretext that covers stress situations or concerns about future motherhood. As the situation in Oleśnica infirmary shows, the usage of this condition in many cases leads to abortion on request. Examples show that children who have been aborted due to “adaptative disorders” of mothers were completely healthy and any have been good for 8 months.
jb
Source: rp.pl, opoka.org.pl
