Published: 14.07.2022
On August 30, 1996, the Parliament passed an amendment to the law on family planning, which allowed abortion when a pregnant woman is in difficult living conditions or in a difficult personal situation. It was necessary for the woman to submit a written statement and consult with a primary care physician or other authorized person than the one who was to perform the abortion. An abortion could be performed if the woman maintained her intention 3 days after the consultation. The amendment entered into force on January 4, 1997.
On May 28, 1997, the Constitutional Tribunal found that the provision introducing this premise was inconsistent with the constitutional provisions upheld by the so-called The Little Constitution of 1992, by the fact that "legalizes the termination of pregnancy without sufficient justification by the need to protect another value, right or constitutional freedom, and uses undefined criteria for this legalization, thus violating constitutional guarantees for human life. Moreover, in the justification to this judgment, he expressed the view that the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, adopted on April 2, 1997, confirms in Art. 38 the legal protection of human life. The constitutional basis on which the Constitutional Tribunal based its ruling was thus confirmed and clearly articulated in the [new] Constitution of the Republic of Poland ”. The provisions concerning this condition expired on December 23, 1997.
· The European Parliament has adopted the resolution "Report on human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union's policy in this regard - Annual Report 2022."
· In an attempt to pursue an ideological agenda, the EP makes mutually exclusive demands in its report.
· The trial of Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist of the Abortion Dream Team, is underway before the Warsaw-Prague District Court.
· The indictment alleges aiding and abetting a pharmacological abortion.
· At the last hearing appeared the first of the witnesses - the father of the child whom the accused wanted to assist in the abortion.
The Office of the President of the Republic of Poland has responded to an appeal by Ordo Iuris, in which the Institute points out that the UN General Assembly resolution on violence against women could be a tool to pressure states to position the so-called right to abortion as a human right. Before and after the document's adoption, the Institute issued appeals to the President highlighting the dangers of the resolution and calling for opposition to the UN's imposed interpretation of human rights.
The case before a Dutch court concerned euthanasia, specifically the freedom to access so-called assisted suicide. In a December 14 ruling, the district court in The Hague ruled that the legality of assisted suicide will remain limited in the Netherlands to situations in which it is performed by a doctor while adhering to the rules set forth in the law.
© 2016 ORDO IURIS - Instytut Na Rzecz Kultury Prawnej
