February 8, 2021 • 8 mins
With renewed protesting in the wake of the passing of strict anti-abortion laws in Poland, Anney and Samantha visit women's rights, abortion and protests in Poland.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
I've never told your prediction of I hier radio. All right,
then you have a question for you for today's a
Monday Mini. Do you remember the first protest you ever
took part in and what it was for? Yes, I protested.
(00:31):
I was in seventh grade, two thousand two. Seventh grade. Wow, Yeah,
I protested against. I believe it was Afghanistan, like the
violence in the Middle East and like the war they
were all talking about, like, oh, we're gonna go to
a war in I rock and maybe Afghanistan. And I
was in my small town de Laonaga, and I brought
to own nuts and I was the hit of the protest.
(00:55):
Of course, you went yes. And then I protested pretty
soon after about like environmental thing, but that got shut
down because there was this big push to go around
writing your bike naked. It was it wasn't just me
that came up with this idea. It was a thing
that was happening, but anyway got down. Yeah, that's that's fair.
That's fair. So I think the first protest that I
(01:15):
actually was a part of was the beginning of Black
Lives Matter and the Trayvon Martin protests, especially with the acquittal,
and I remember I was really scared because I was
working for the Department of jubil Justice and there is
a part in our contract that states that we cannot
be a part of anything that looks like it's trying
to overthrow the government, which, by the way, still trying
(01:38):
to figure out how people are able to participate with
the riot and not fired. Confused because that was a
blatant part of our state contract and as in fact,
apparently it has something to do with federal grants as well.
They get money by having people signed this and making
sure to allow that it also goes with like the
unionization and all of that within the government agency. So
(01:58):
I remember being really kind of scared, but feeling like
it was so important that I had to be there,
but definitely shying away from all the cameras. No Gibby here.
But I remember just like the commandery and then the
overall feel that it still wasn't enough. Yeah, but at
the that time, that's all I feel like I could do.
(02:19):
And today, friends, we are actually going to talk about
the continued protests in Poland. But it's been several several
days since the protest as a women's strike movement has
taken back the streets once again to protest Poland's current
almost total ban in the country. Yeah, and we talked
in a previous episode on what was known as one
(02:40):
of the largest pro abortions rates protests in the country
due to the possibility of the ultio conservative administration's proposal
of the near total ban on abortion. But now as
we've hit this new year running, the law has been
ruled by the Constitutional Tribunal, which is made up of
those appointed by the Conservative Party of Law and Justice
are the p I S and published to come into effect. Right, So,
(03:04):
the current ruling party of Poland, known as the Law
and Justice Party or p I S, came into power
in with the promise of quote returned to more conservative
social norms and has expected. Abortion is one of the
biggest and highly divisive issue within this predominantly Catholic country,
and the Law and Justice Party made sure to take
up that home just as a reminder. Though there are
(03:27):
only one thousand legal abortions a year in Poland, women's
organizations estimate the number of annual illegal abortions or abortions
obtained abroad could be as high as eighty thousand to one,
and twenty thousand of those one thousand legal abortions of
them were granted due to severe fetal defect, which is
a reason this new ruling has done away with. So
(03:48):
it's getting rid of that, which means that the only
legal justifications for abortion as this goes into effect are
the women's life and health if it's at risk, or
if the pregnancy was due to reap or incest right,
and of course there still more stipulations on top of that,
and just put in here. Since October, which was when
the initial ruling was proposed and was about to be
(04:10):
published and put into effect, many of the doctors, even
though it hadn't come into effect quite yet, we're afraid
to eat do any abortions at all. So they stopped
altogether because they were afraid that they would be fined
or at risk to be jailed, which is also a
part of this new law that if any doctors are
found to do in quote illegal abortion, they will be jailed.
(04:32):
So that's something to think on too. And the Polish
Constitution Tribunal justified its ruling which framed it as quote
being about defending the life and an unborn child, so
that was the unconstitutional ruling of why they should be
done with, and Polish legislators made sure to push the
narrative to include language like child and mother rather than
feed us and practical what woman when talking about abortioned.
(04:54):
Obviously this is an attack and a narrative that is
often used as a strategy to villain nice those who
are pro abortion. Right now, five of the fifteen judges
at the court did dissent, but some of their issues
with it were not necessarily about the ruling and the substance,
but the mere justification of it. And so after this
Constitutional Tribunal published it, the government published the ruling, which
(05:18):
effectively makes it into law right um, and this band
has been the first change that's been made since n
in Poland, which was already fairly restrictive. And of course
this sparked the nationwide protests in October, though it seemed
it had stopped the law from coming into place, with
perhaps an opportunity to discuss and further debate the ruling,
(05:41):
the ruling was published, making the band law, and I
know the leaders did have a meeting, but apparently not
a meeting with any of the people who were of
the centrist or the left leaning parties. It was kind
of like, hey, we're having a meeting, Okay, that's it.
But no nobody of note who would be in the
side of pro abortion was present. Right protests have continued
(06:06):
as thousands of activists have come together to relly against
the ruling and the law. Many of the activists have
said that this is not only about abortion and the
rights of people who can get pregnant, but also about
the deeper implications of limiting human rights altogether. Right. Um,
and though it's now I guess day seven and maybe
one day one o six and the protests began in October,
(06:29):
the people of Poland continue even the arrest and threats
have been made by the government. On Thursday, January, at
least fourteen people were detained, including one of the leaders
of the Women's Strike organization that helped organize the protest,
clemented us huhanof who was released on Saturday, January thirty.
And she was charged and found guilty in a very
quick trial, including charges for trespassing and for nailing a
(06:52):
poster to a door at the Constitional Court and warsaw
she have put up a poster with the celebration of
the new abortion laws in Argentina, which we recently talked about,
as well as a way of expressing hope that Poland
would also follow suit. The protesters have been met with
police barricades and pepper spray, but they still persist. The
government has not made any statements in regards to the
(07:13):
new round of protests all over the nation, but they
seem to continue to hold onto the statement released in
October when they said people protesting the abortion band were
quote criminals and that their actions were irresponsible during the pandemic,
though they didn't seem to regard the band coming during
a pandemic and limiting reproductive healthcare at this time as
irresponsible right um and There's a support for the protests
(07:36):
around the world, including those near them. Many organizations have
come together to help fund transport or accompany many of
those seeking safe abortions outside of Poland, such as going
to countries where abortion is legal, specifically Argentina, as well
as those who have come to protest with them in Poland.
But for those of us who can't be there, there
are ways to help, including bringing a recognition to what
is happening, as well as financially supporting the women's strike organizations,
(07:58):
which we will put a link up too soon, but
they are still protesting and and definitely still needing those
to shine a light on what's happening in Poland. Yes,
and as always, if there are any resources you want
us to shout out, or if anyone's in Poland and
wants to share your experience of what's going on, please
let us know. You can email us at Stuff Media,
(08:19):
mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
us on Instagram at Stuff I've Never Told You, are
on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast. Thanks. It's always to
our super producer Christina. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
and thanks to you for listening Stuff I've Never Told You.
Subject to iHeart Radio for more. Podcast from iHeart Radio
is at the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows,
Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
I've never told your prediction of I hier radio. All right,
then you have a question for you for today's a
Monday Mini. Do you remember the first protest you ever
took part in and what it was for? Yes, I protested.
(00:31):
I was in seventh grade, two thousand two. Seventh grade. Wow, Yeah,
I protested against. I believe it was Afghanistan, like the
violence in the Middle East and like the war they
were all talking about, like, oh, we're gonna go to
a war in I rock and maybe Afghanistan. And I
was in my small town de Laonaga, and I brought
to own nuts and I was the hit of the protest.
(00:55):
Of course, you went yes. And then I protested pretty
soon after about like environmental thing, but that got shut
down because there was this big push to go around
writing your bike naked. It was it wasn't just me
that came up with this idea. It was a thing
that was happening, but anyway got down. Yeah, that's that's fair.
That's fair. So I think the first protest that I
(01:15):
actually was a part of was the beginning of Black
Lives Matter and the Trayvon Martin protests, especially with the acquittal,
and I remember I was really scared because I was
working for the Department of jubil Justice and there is
a part in our contract that states that we cannot
be a part of anything that looks like it's trying
to overthrow the government, which, by the way, still trying
(01:38):
to figure out how people are able to participate with
the riot and not fired. Confused because that was a
blatant part of our state contract and as in fact,
apparently it has something to do with federal grants as well.
They get money by having people signed this and making
sure to allow that it also goes with like the
unionization and all of that within the government agency. So
(01:58):
I remember being really kind of scared, but feeling like
it was so important that I had to be there,
but definitely shying away from all the cameras. No Gibby here.
But I remember just like the commandery and then the
overall feel that it still wasn't enough. Yeah, but at
the that time, that's all I feel like I could do.
(02:19):
And today, friends, we are actually going to talk about
the continued protests in Poland. But it's been several several
days since the protest as a women's strike movement has
taken back the streets once again to protest Poland's current
almost total ban in the country. Yeah, and we talked
in a previous episode on what was known as one
(02:40):
of the largest pro abortions rates protests in the country
due to the possibility of the ultio conservative administration's proposal
of the near total ban on abortion. But now as
we've hit this new year running, the law has been
ruled by the Constitutional Tribunal, which is made up of
those appointed by the Conservative Party of Law and Justice
are the p I S and published to come into effect. Right, So,
(03:04):
the current ruling party of Poland, known as the Law
and Justice Party or p I S, came into power
in with the promise of quote returned to more conservative
social norms and has expected. Abortion is one of the
biggest and highly divisive issue within this predominantly Catholic country,
and the Law and Justice Party made sure to take
up that home just as a reminder. Though there are
(03:27):
only one thousand legal abortions a year in Poland, women's
organizations estimate the number of annual illegal abortions or abortions
obtained abroad could be as high as eighty thousand to one,
and twenty thousand of those one thousand legal abortions of
them were granted due to severe fetal defect, which is
a reason this new ruling has done away with. So
(03:48):
it's getting rid of that, which means that the only
legal justifications for abortion as this goes into effect are
the women's life and health if it's at risk, or
if the pregnancy was due to reap or incest right,
and of course there still more stipulations on top of that,
and just put in here. Since October, which was when
the initial ruling was proposed and was about to be
(04:10):
published and put into effect, many of the doctors, even
though it hadn't come into effect quite yet, we're afraid
to eat do any abortions at all. So they stopped
altogether because they were afraid that they would be fined
or at risk to be jailed, which is also a
part of this new law that if any doctors are
found to do in quote illegal abortion, they will be jailed.
(04:32):
So that's something to think on too. And the Polish
Constitution Tribunal justified its ruling which framed it as quote
being about defending the life and an unborn child, so
that was the unconstitutional ruling of why they should be
done with, and Polish legislators made sure to push the
narrative to include language like child and mother rather than
feed us and practical what woman when talking about abortioned.
(04:54):
Obviously this is an attack and a narrative that is
often used as a strategy to villain nice those who
are pro abortion. Right now, five of the fifteen judges
at the court did dissent, but some of their issues
with it were not necessarily about the ruling and the substance,
but the mere justification of it. And so after this
Constitutional Tribunal published it, the government published the ruling, which
(05:18):
effectively makes it into law right um, and this band
has been the first change that's been made since n
in Poland, which was already fairly restrictive. And of course
this sparked the nationwide protests in October, though it seemed
it had stopped the law from coming into place, with
perhaps an opportunity to discuss and further debate the ruling,
(05:41):
the ruling was published, making the band law, and I
know the leaders did have a meeting, but apparently not
a meeting with any of the people who were of
the centrist or the left leaning parties. It was kind
of like, hey, we're having a meeting, Okay, that's it.
But no nobody of note who would be in the
side of pro abortion was present. Right protests have continued
(06:06):
as thousands of activists have come together to relly against
the ruling and the law. Many of the activists have
said that this is not only about abortion and the
rights of people who can get pregnant, but also about
the deeper implications of limiting human rights altogether. Right. Um,
and though it's now I guess day seven and maybe
one day one o six and the protests began in October,
(06:29):
the people of Poland continue even the arrest and threats
have been made by the government. On Thursday, January, at
least fourteen people were detained, including one of the leaders
of the Women's Strike organization that helped organize the protest,
clemented us huhanof who was released on Saturday, January thirty.
And she was charged and found guilty in a very
quick trial, including charges for trespassing and for nailing a
(06:52):
poster to a door at the Constitional Court and warsaw
she have put up a poster with the celebration of
the new abortion laws in Argentina, which we recently talked about,
as well as a way of expressing hope that Poland
would also follow suit. The protesters have been met with
police barricades and pepper spray, but they still persist. The
government has not made any statements in regards to the
(07:13):
new round of protests all over the nation, but they
seem to continue to hold onto the statement released in
October when they said people protesting the abortion band were
quote criminals and that their actions were irresponsible during the pandemic,
though they didn't seem to regard the band coming during
a pandemic and limiting reproductive healthcare at this time as
irresponsible right um and There's a support for the protests
(07:36):
around the world, including those near them. Many organizations have
come together to help fund transport or accompany many of
those seeking safe abortions outside of Poland, such as going
to countries where abortion is legal, specifically Argentina, as well
as those who have come to protest with them in Poland.
But for those of us who can't be there, there
are ways to help, including bringing a recognition to what
is happening, as well as financially supporting the women's strike organizations,
(07:58):
which we will put a link up too soon, but
they are still protesting and and definitely still needing those
to shine a light on what's happening in Poland. Yes,
and as always, if there are any resources you want
us to shout out, or if anyone's in Poland and
wants to share your experience of what's going on, please
let us know. You can email us at Stuff Media,
(08:19):
mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
us on Instagram at Stuff I've Never Told You, are
on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast. Thanks. It's always to
our super producer Christina. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
and thanks to you for listening Stuff I've Never Told You.
Subject to iHeart Radio for more. Podcast from iHeart Radio
is at the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows,
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