July 23, 2022 • 9 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 in this classic episode.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey this Sanny and Samantha and welcome to Steph. I
never told you a protection of I Heart Radio. So
in our continuing look at abortion, what's going on with it,
what has been going on with it, and recognizing people
(00:25):
who have been doing amazing things in this world for
a long time, who have been fighting that fight. Uh,
we don't want to forget those people. So we're bringing
back some classics focusing on the work people have done
around the world. Uh. And in in light of that,
we want to run this classic we did. It was
(00:46):
a Monday Mini, but it was we covered a lot
of ground and it was about women's rights in Poland. Uh,
so please enjoy. Hey this Sanny and Samantha and welcome
to stuff I've never told your production of I Hire Radio.
(01:12):
And then you have a question for you for today's
on Monday Mini. Do you remember the first protest you
ever took part in and what it was for? Yes,
I protested. I was in seventh grade two thousand two
seventh grade. Wow, Yeah, I protested against I believe it
(01:35):
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 the rock and
maybe Afghanistan. And I was in my small town de Laonaga,
and I brought downuts and I was the hit of
the protest. Of course you were, yes. And then I
protested pretty soon after about like an environmental thing, but
that got shut down because there was this big push
(01:57):
to go around riding 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 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
(02:19):
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 to figure out how people were
able to participate with the riot and not fired confused
because that was a blatant part of our state contract
(02:39):
and has 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 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
(03:02):
like the commodity 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. And today, friends,
we are actually going to talk about the continued protests
in Poland. But it's been several several days since the
protests as a women's strike movement has taken back the
(03:24):
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 of the largest
pro abortions rates protests in the country due to the
possibility of the ultial conservative administration's proposal of the near
total ban on abortion. But now as we've hit this
(03:47):
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 or the p
I S and published to come into effect. Right, So
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
(04:08):
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
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
(04:30):
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 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 insist right,
(04:52):
and of course there's 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
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
(05:13):
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.
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
(05:35):
that was the unconstitutional ruling of why this 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 abortion. Obviously,
this is an attack and a narrative that is often
used as a strategy to villainize those who are pro abortion.
(05:56):
Right now, five or the fifteen judges at the court
did dissent. 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 effectively makes it into law.
Right um and this band has been the first change
(06:18):
that's been made since in Poland, which was already fairly restrictive,
and of course the 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, the ruling was published, making the band law.
And I know the leaders did have a meeting, but
(06:40):
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. Thousands of activists have come together to relly
(07:02):
against the ruling and 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 oh six and st the protests begin in October.
(07:22):
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 Uhanof, 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
(07:46):
poster to a door at the Constitional Court and warsaw
you 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
(08:07):
new round of protests all over the nation, but they
seem to continue to hold on to the statement release
in October when they said people protesting the abortion band
were que 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 the support for
(08:28):
the protests 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 recognition
(08:49):
to what is happening, as well as financially supporting the
women's strike organizations, 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 happened
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
(09:09):
going on, please let us know. You can email us
at Stuff Media Mom Stuff at I heart 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 of iHeart Radio. For more podcast
from my iHeart Radio, vis at the iHeart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Hey this Sanny and Samantha and welcome to Steph. I
never told you a protection of I Heart Radio. So
in our continuing look at abortion, what's going on with it,
what has been going on with it, and recognizing people
(00:25):
who have been doing amazing things in this world for
a long time, who have been fighting that fight. Uh,
we don't want to forget those people. So we're bringing
back some classics focusing on the work people have done
around the world. Uh. And in in light of that,
we want to run this classic we did. It was
(00:46):
a Monday Mini, but it was we covered a lot
of ground and it was about women's rights in Poland. Uh,
so please enjoy. Hey this Sanny and Samantha and welcome
to stuff I've never told your production of I Hire Radio.
(01:12):
And then you have a question for you for today's
on Monday Mini. Do you remember the first protest you
ever took part in and what it was for? Yes,
I protested. I was in seventh grade two thousand two
seventh grade. Wow, Yeah, I protested against I believe it
(01:35):
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 the rock and
maybe Afghanistan. And I was in my small town de Laonaga,
and I brought downuts and I was the hit of
the protest. Of course you were, yes. And then I
protested pretty soon after about like an environmental thing, but
that got shut down because there was this big push
(01:57):
to go around riding 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 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
(02:19):
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 to figure out how people were
able to participate with the riot and not fired confused
because that was a blatant part of our state contract
(02:39):
and has 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 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
(03:02):
like the commodity 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. And today, friends,
we are actually going to talk about the continued protests
in Poland. But it's been several several days since the
protests as a women's strike movement has taken back the
(03:24):
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 of the largest
pro abortions rates protests in the country due to the
possibility of the ultial conservative administration's proposal of the near
total ban on abortion. But now as we've hit this
(03:47):
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 or the p
I S and published to come into effect. Right, So
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
(04:08):
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
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
(04:30):
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 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 insist right,
(04:52):
and of course there's 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
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
(05:13):
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.
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
(05:35):
that was the unconstitutional ruling of why this 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 abortion. Obviously,
this is an attack and a narrative that is often
used as a strategy to villainize those who are pro abortion.
(05:56):
Right now, five or the fifteen judges at the court
did dissent. 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 effectively makes it into law.
Right um and this band has been the first change
(06:18):
that's been made since in Poland, which was already fairly restrictive,
and of course the 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, the ruling was published, making the band law.
And I know the leaders did have a meeting, but
(06:40):
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. Thousands of activists have come together to relly
(07:02):
against the ruling and 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 oh six and st the protests begin in October.
(07:22):
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 Uhanof, 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
(07:46):
poster to a door at the Constitional Court and warsaw
you 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
(08:07):
new round of protests all over the nation, but they
seem to continue to hold on to the statement release
in October when they said people protesting the abortion band
were que 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 the support for
(08:28):
the protests 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 recognition
(08:49):
to what is happening, as well as financially supporting the
women's strike organizations, 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 happened
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
(09:09):
going on, please let us know. You can email us
at Stuff Media Mom Stuff at I heart 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 of iHeart Radio. For more podcast
from my iHeart Radio, vis at the iHeart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
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