Abstract
In 2020 the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland held that the legislation that permitted abortion in cases of ‘fatal foetal anomaly’ was an unconstitutional interference with the right to life of the foetus. This article examines the recent decision, which prohibits abortion on the grounds of foetal anomaly, arguing that this decision is part of a broader scheme of Polish and transnational anti-abortion lawfare. This lawfare seeks both to (re)shape Polish law in an anti-abortion mould, and to take advantage of ‘gaps’ in European and international human rights law standards on abortion in order to claim rights compliance for law and policy that, in reality, restricts access to abortion in a manner that is incompatible with international human rights law.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-17 |
| Journal | Israel Law Review |
| Early online date | 7 Mar 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 7 Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with the Faculty of Law, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Keywords
- Poland
- Polish Constitutional Tribunal
- abortion
- international human rights law
- lawfare
- reproductive rights
- women's rights
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Law