Clear and Compelling Evidence: The Polish Tribunal on Abortion Rights

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Summary: By Françoise Girard and Wanda Nowicka (Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 10, No. 19, May 2002). Describes the findings of the July 2001 Tribunal on Abortion Rights in Warsaw, which was organized by the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning in response to the Polish Anti-Abortion Act of 1993. A panel of Polish and foreign experts heard testimonies from seven women and, based on their stories, concluded that restrictive abortion laws do not decrease the incidence of abortion but rather push it underground, endanger women's health, create a climate where even those services that are allowed by law become unavailable, and contravene standards set by international human rights law. The Tribunal brought the issue of abortion into the media and galvanized Polish and other Eastern European women's groups to become more active in defense of abortion rights (9 pages). 

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