Poland's Recovery - From Massive to Near Zero Abortion
Source: Report from the Polish Federation of Pro-Life
Movements. Statistics from Polish Government agencies. Article reproduced from Response
Magazine, 6 Mapas Road, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
| Year | Abortions | Births | Abortions as a Percentage of Pregnancies (excluding miscarriages here) |
| 1997 | 3,171 | 412,635 | 0.8% |
| 1996 | 491 | --------- | < 1% |
| 1995 | 559 | --------- | < 1 % |
| 1994 | 782 | 481,285 | 0.2% |
| 1993 | 1,208 | 494,310 | 0.2% |
| 1991 | 30,878 | 547,719 | 5.3% |
| 1990 | 59,417 | 547,720 | 9.8% |
| 1987 | 123,534 | 607,790 | 16.9% |
At a recent (1998) conference in Berlin, Dr. Pawel Wosicki, President of the Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements (PFPM), told Poland's abortion story. There were very high abortion rates during the Communist period. When Poland became free, the new Government was not sufficiently strong to ban abortion altogether but reduced it from abortion on demand to purportedly hard cases in January 1993. The opposition claimed that illegal abortions, unwanted births and abandoned children would surge. Official statistics indicated that this did not happen. In 1996, a new dominant leftwing Government tried to reverse the abortion law to what it was before 1993. There was tremendous public resistance. The new law, however, was narrowly forced through in 1996 but referred to the Constitutional Tribunal which struck it down in May 1997 on Natural Law principles, in favour of the unborn child's right ti life, leaving the 1993 law in force. The Government may try again. The statistics above tell the story with no descernable social side effects observed. Polands story is an important and historic happening, which deserves careful study. Incidentally, the numbers opposed to abortion rose from 49% before the June 1993 bill to 62% by June 1995 two years after it was introduced.