The Socialists and Democrats are leading a cross party majority to support Polish women whose rights are being unprecedentedly attacked in PiS-ruled Poland. Even the conservative EPP has co-signed the very progressive text of the resolution, pushed through by the S&Ds.

The resolution, which will be put to the vote tomorrow, condemns the de-facto ban on the right to abortion in Poland, following the shameful ruling by the tribunal that is totally controlled by Kaczynski’s party. It expresses solidarity with hundreds of thousands of brave Polish women and men who - for four weeks now - have been taking to the streets to oppose the ban. It also defends Polish women’s rights to decide over their bodies and reminds that women’s rights are human rights and the European institutions and the member states must protect them. Finally, it calls on the Commission to directly support programmes and civil society organisations working to ensure that women have access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in Poland, and everywhere else in Europe.

S&D leader Iratxe García Pérez said:  

“The ruling by the Polish court, totally controlled by Mr. Kaczynski's Law and Justice party, represents a fierce attack against women. Banning abortion, even in the case of severe foetal defects, is a form of state violence against women that we condemn today - the International Day against Gender Violence. It is intolerable that in the XXI century, in an EU member state, the lives and health of women are subordinated to a purely political calculation and ideological motivation. Banning abortion does not mean that the numbers of procedures will decrease. The clandestine abortions will increase in unsafe sanitary conditions, and only women with the economic means will be able to travel abroad to undergo legal and safe abortions. Once again, it is the poorest women who are hardest hit.

“I am sending a message of support to Polish women and the Strajk Kobiet organisation that leads the protests throughout Poland. You are not alone. The Socialists and Democrats will continue to fight for your fundamental rights. Our commitment and our solidarity is global, from Argentina to Poland. Together we are unstoppable.

“We cannot permit that our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers.” 

S&D MEP Robert Biedroń, vice-chair of the committee on women’s rights and gender equality, and the European Parliament’s negotiator on this file, added:

“I am proud that we have managed to secure such a strong Parliament’s position, which condemns the ruling of the puppet Constitutional Tribunal, as well as the setback to women’s sexual reproductive health and rights in Poland. We stand together with all the brave Polish women whose demands include not only the annulment of the ruling, but also the denouncement of the so-called ‘abortion compromise’, the liberalisation of the right to abortion law and respect for bodily autonomy. 

“The Progressives’ position on these issues remains unchanged: it is ’her body her choice’ and we won’t rest until Polish women finally enjoy the same rights as other women in Europe.”