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A European Court of Human Rights decision ordering Poland to pay compensation for not helping a girl obtain an abortion four years ago has upset many in the predominantly Catholic country.
The court, which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, said Poland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights because the girl — who was allegedly raped as a 14-year-old — was denied an abortion at hospitals in her home town and in Warsaw.
The teenager, identified only as P, eventually had an abortion in Gdansk, some 500 kilometres from her home, after the Ministry of Health intervened.
The Strasbourg-based court declared the abortion refusal was “inhumane and degrading”, and said the girl did not receive objective medical counseling.
The court ordered Poland to pay compensation of 30,000 euros to the girl and 15,000 to her mother, who favoured an abortion.
Polish attorney Karina Walinowicz called the European court’s verdict “completely out of order and conflicting with Polish law”.
“I’m really worried this could dangerously impact future cases,” she told the Catholic News Agency. Poland’s current law allows for abortion in three cases: rape or incest, if the mother’s health is at grave risk, or if the fetus suffers from a disease or malformation.
Poland and Ireland are the only two countries in the European Union which have not implemented the EU’s abortion laws.
Anette Ignatowicz, a former policy advisor for European Dignity Watch, an organisation that investigates EU institutions, called the court’s decision “yet another attempt to push legalising abortion in Poland”.
Opinion polls show that Poles are becoming increasing pro-life, with 76 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 favouring a total ban on abortion.
According to one of Poland’s biggest opinion poll agency, CBOS, those who viewed abortion as acceptable went down dramatically from 65 per cent in 1993 to 9 per cent in 2011. Another Polish market research agency, Grupa IQS, found that 65 per cent of Poles viewed abortion as unacceptable in 2011.
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Image: Asbarez.com
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News category: World.
