by the Federation for Women and Family Planning

NGO in SPECIAL Consultative Status
with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

INDEX

GENERAL COMMENTS

Gender discrimination is inherent to the Polish existing law and policies and seems to be growing. In 1998 the Federation for Women and Family Planning has submitted the shadow report to the UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in which we expressed our concerns related to growing gender inequalities, in particular, in the area labour market, reproductive and sexual health and rights. The Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in their concluding observations recommended several actions to be undertaken by the government to prevent and stop the discrimination. To our knowledge the Government has not undertaken any actions resulting from these recommendations. Restrictive law and policies towards women went even further.

In 1997 the Government of Poland transformed the Government Plenipotentiary for the Family and Women's Affairs (the machinery responsible for equality policies) into the Government Plenipotentiary for the Family Affairs (without women). According to the relevant legal act adopted by the Government on November 7 1997, the new office's mandate does not include women's issues and gender equality any more. The head of this new office is well-known for very the negative approach to gender equality policies. At the moment there is no governmental institution that would address any gender discrimination issues including violence.

The present anti-abortion law violates the right women to liberty and security in the area of reproductive rights and health. Women are not able to exercise their reproductive rights what in many ways threatens women’s life and health.

In 1993 significant changes concerning women’s reproductive rights were introduced in Poland. The Polish Parliament introduced the anti-abortion law called the Act on family planning, human embryo protection and conditions of permissibility of abortion according to which abortions on social grounds were delegalized. It meant that women in difficult life conditions, including financial situation, could not legally have abortions. The anti-abortion law was liberalized shortly in 1996 (enforced in 1997) to allow abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy if “a woman is in hard life conditions or in difficult personal situation”. The law got restricted again in 1997 (enforced in 1998) and this provision regarding abortion on social grounds was withdrawn by the Parliament elected in 1997 resulting from the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal. The Constitutional Tribunal stated that abortion on social grounds is unconstitutional and justified its decision on the basis that Poland is a democratic state of law what for the members of CT implies the protection of life at its every stage. The Polish Constitution includes the provision of legal protection of life to every human being (Art. 38). This decision of the Constitutional Tribunal, its justification and consequences was a real shock for women’s rights and health advocates as well as for many prominent lawyers.

This restrictive law was introduced without any transitional period, without any mechanisms that would allow women to more easily adjust to these changes and avoid dangers associated with these restrictions. Abortion on social grounds was legal in Poland since 1956 and it was broadly utilized by women as a method of birth control in result of poor family planning policies of the Polish state. The state did not introduced simultaneously with restrictions any policies that would promote and subsidize any family planning programmes.

This dramatic change affected seriously many women and families, particularly those poor and uneducated ones. The law did not stop abortions. It pushed women to use back-street abortions or travel abroad. These effects of anti-abortion regulations on women’s life and health were described in the Federation for Women and Family Planning two reports (1994, 1996). At present, the Federation is working on the new report. From the data already gathered it could be stated that the situation got even worsened; women seek illegal abortion which although very expensive is the last resort for many women in dramatic life situations.

According to the anti-abortion law, abortion on medical grounds is legal. However, in practice pregnant women whose pregnancy constitutes a health danger, face problems in receiving necessary termination procedures. It has been quite common that partly in result of general ignorance of the medical community on the conditions of the anti-abortion act, partly in result of their anti-abortion attitudes, women with serious medical problems have been forced to give birth. Some women even died in result of this. Some cases were described in the Federation for Women and Family Planning reports. For example, a woman with artificial heart valve was forced to give birth to a baby against her and her husband will. She died a few days after the delivery.

In general, it can be assumed that pregnant woman does not experience satisfactory protection of her right to health if her life or health is in conflict with life of the fetus. Such understanding of this issue was legally confirmed in 1996 by the decision of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.

We are aware that some women have already experienced unfavorable medical treatment due to the fact that they were pregnant. For example, in one of the Warsaw hospitals a pregnant woman threatened by the loss of sight was denied the right to cesarean section. The denial was justified that in this hospital deliveries are possible only by means of nature (the information comes directly from a doctor ophthalmologist who recommended the cesarean section).

While abortion remains illegal, family planning services do not receive adequate proportion of government health spending. Family planning counseling and services generally are not provided in public healthcare system. Insufficient number of non governmental family planning associations are not able to meet all needs of the society in this respect. Women do not have adequate access to contraception due to lack of the state subsidies that would lower prices, insufficient knowledge of medical community and sometimes their unwillingness to prescribe contraceptives as well as lack of any state programs that would promote family planning. Sterilization as a method of family planning is illegal.

The medical community, in general, does not take any pro-active policy to promote family planning among women. The Medical Code of Ethics adopted by the physicians in 1993 although states that a doctor should counsel family planning, but only to the patients who are interested in it. In other words, doctors are not obliged to propose contraception if a woman does not ask for it.

As one example of such approach maybe recently published article in the opinionated Medical Newspaper (April 1999) by a doctor - head of the National Medical Court where he justifies the right of a doctor to deny the prescription for the Pill over the right of a woman to get it.

In the Catholic society where still vast majority of the population knows little if at all on the methods of family planning such attitudes are a significant barrier.

The subsidies for five contraceptives introduced in 1997 by the former Government have been withdrawn by the following Government in March 1998. These financial reductions for reproductive health have serious impact on women’s family planning choices. How important these subsidies were for women accessibility to family planning could be seen that in 1997 the purchase of contraceptives in 1997 increased almost 28 per cent.

The Government’s decision pushed the Federation to issue the claim to the Polish Ombudsman for Human Rights who has agreed to specifically address discrimination against women based on the Government’s decision to eliminate subsidies for contraceptives and called on the Government to withdraw this decision. However, the Government ignored this recommendation.

Lack of such policies endangers women significantly to fall into unwanted pregnancies and all the consequences resulted from criminal anti-abortion law. Their right to security from unwanted pregnancy is not being observed.

Sex education as a separate subject has been withdrawn from school curricula by the Parliament in 1999. It will be replaced by so-called Pro Family education. New program based on the teaching of the Roman Catholic church on human sexuality, family planning and family as well as existing and accepted school textbooks by the Ministry of Education as well as responsible educational bodies raise serious fears that the right of young people to modern sex education will not be adequately fulfilled by the State. Taking into account restrictive anti-abortion law, young people, in particular girls, are exceptionally vulnerable to the lack of adequate education, counseling and services.

A woman seeking for a job is often asked to make a medical check-up, including pregnancy test. This procedure enables employers to exclude pregnant women as potential employees. This practice has been testified by many women who have been looking for a job.

Violence against women is one of the most painful problems in Poland, but still inadequately recognized nor addressed. There is no systematic data on violence. There are neither preventive measures nor sufficient mechanisms of support for victims of violence. Legal regulations such as order of protection do not exist and do not protect women against violence. There is no sufficient number of shelters and other supportive institutions.

The Government Program against Domestic Violence was launched in 1997 by the former office responsible for preventing gender-based discrimination - Government Plenipotentiary for the Family and Women's Affairs. The Program has been suspended without any substantial reason by the Government Plenipotentiary for the Family Affairs - the office which replaced the former one.

The special law addressing sexual harassment does not exist in Poland although the problem has been recognized by women’s groups.

Women’s groups are concerned with low sentences for the crime of rape which seem to demonstrate the tendency that rapes are treated by the law enforcement institutions with lower importance. The new 1998 Criminal Code lowered the sentence for a rape with particular cruelty from 3-15 years of prison to 2-12.
Many groups, including women’s NGOs, Women’s Parliamentary Group, individual lawyers issued at least two statements to the Minister of Justice concerning

The Minister of Justice responded basically that the Ministry of Justice cannot intervene with the courts’ independence.

Our concern for the future is quite serious due to some new laws and the draft legislation. The Government very critically assessed in the negative way the draft law on the equal status of men and women proposed by the Women’s Parliamentary Group. The Government’s critique goes much beyond this draft. In its opinion the Government stated that that there is no need to introduce special equality mechanism since the principle of gender equality is satisfactorily protected by the Polish law i.e. the Constitution. Subsequently, the draft has been rejected by the Parliament.

In 1999 the Parliament has adopted the law introducing separation although the divorce is legal in Poland. This is an example of direct basing the state law on the law of the Roman-Catholic religion. The argumentation behind this law is a religious one – to enable Catholics not to breach the religious law which does not tolerate divorce. Although the society is catholic, divorces are a reality in Poland for 50 years where they were legalized. Women’s groups are concerned that the separation might be used in practice as a middle stage before the divorce and it will prolong the divorce procedures, make them more expensive and in fact hinder the divorce. Since in 2/3 divorce cases in Poland a woman requests a divorce, women will be affected more than men by the new law on separation.

The Polish pension system has been reformed in 1999. It accepted traditional in Poland different retirement age for women (60) and men (65). The new system introduced the dependence of the amount of pension on the years of savings. Due to the fact that women are discriminated against directly and indirectly at the labor market – they usually earn less by 30 per cent than men as well as due to the new pension system, women will have pensions usually 40 per cent less than men. The Government states that women from trade unions did not want to introduce equal retirement age for both sexes. However, there has not been any public debate during which the government would inform women about real consequences of this new system.

The Polish Parliament has recently adopted the law according to which prenatal tests will be seriously limited. The law was introduced on ideological grounds in spite of the opposition of many doctors and women’s groups. This discriminatory law has not been finally adopted but if it is pregnant women over 35 would not have access to these examinations by which their access to benefits of scientific progress will be seriously restricted. The law is meant to further restrict the access to legal abortion on eugenic grounds.

The Parliament is drafting so long expected the law on the new human rights institution – introduced by the 1998 Constitution i.e. – Ombudsman on Children’s Rights basing on two drafts- one - prepared by the Parliamentary Commission, the other – by the Government. The Government draft focuses on the protection of the unborn child.

Art. 1.2. The Ombudsman protects children rights as defined in the Constitution, the Convention on the Rights of a Child and other regulations, recognizing that the implementation of the child’s rights must respect the responsibilities and rights of parents in accordance with polish customs and traditions concerning the place of a child within and outside the family.

Art. 1.4. According to this law “a child” is defined as every human being from the moment of conception until the age of 18, unless it will achieve adulthood earlier in accordance with law.

Art. 2.1. The Ombudsman undertakes actions aiming at guaranteeing adequate legal protection, in particular, full implementation of the innate right to life from the moment of conception and the right to upbringing in family.

We are seriously concerned whether final law will protect children’s rights.