Debate on the findings of the CEDAW Committee in relation to Poland.
A debate was held in the European Parliament on the findings of the CEDAW Committee in relation to the Polish abortion law. FEDERA was involved in advocacy in organising the debate.
Right to Contraception Coalition
FEDERA participated in the press conference of the Right to Contraception Coalition.
FEDERA was represented by Ms Antonina Lewandowska – national advocacy coordinator. During the event, she presented the results of a report on the state of knowledge about contraception among young people in the world – including Poland.
The results of the Report are disturbing – Poles declare that they lack knowledge about contraception, and the Internet remains the main source of this knowledge. The cost of purchasing contraceptives is too high for many people and schools do not provide reliable knowledge on sex education. Medical staff often do not provide information on methods other than the contraceptive pill and condoms.
Buffet Syposium
FEDERA’s president Ms Krystyna Kacpura attended the global abortion access symposium ‘Abortion Access Today: Global Insights and Comparsions’ held in Chicago, where she was one of the speakers.
Trial of Dr. Kubisa
The trial of Dr. Maria Kubisa began before the Regional Court in Szczecin. A gynaecologist whose practice was entered in January 2023 by the Central Anticorruption Bureau and seized the medical records of several thousand patients from 28 years of medical practice.
Dr Kubisa is accused of assisting in abortion, i.e. under Article 152 par. 2 of the Criminal Code. FEDERA has joined the proceedings as a social organisation. We are represented in the trial by Agnieszka Stach, a lawyer practising in Szczecin.
One year since Poland’s parliamentary elections
Summary of the year since the 2023 elections from the perspective of SRHR by FEDERA
1) Thanks to FEDERA’s work, a mental health risk has officially been recognised as sufficient to terminate a pregnancy in hospital.
2) The Ruling Coalition failed to decriminalise aiding and abeting abortion.
3) The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women found that abortion laws have violated human rights in Poland since 1993, violating, among other things, the Convention against Discrimination against Women and the Convention against Torture and Inhuman Treatment. The Committee came to Poland following information provided by FEDERA
4) Emergency contraception is still not available without a prescription in every pharmacy, only in those selected ones included in the pilot programme of the Ministry of Health
5) The National Health Fund has started to impose penalties on hospitals that unlawfully refuse to perform statutory abortions, which would not have happened without the activities of FEDERA’s Legal Team.
6) The Ministry of Health expanded the prenatal screening programme, increasing its availability under the National Health Fund. This was one of FEDERA’s objectives to achieve.