Unacceptable violations of EU fundamental values

The EHF has already recently called on the EU to take tougher measures than in the past on the discriminatory policy towards LGBTI in Poland. Now, in view of the recent ruling on the permissibility of abortion by the Polish Constitutional Court, which observers consider to be under the strong influence of the ruling PiS, EHF President Michael Bauer said:

“This ruling is disturbing. Obviously, the governing PiS is striving for a social roll-back, which shall force Poland under the heel of the rigorous and reactionary morals of a fundamentalist Catholicism. Such repression of women’s rights is totally unacceptable in the European Union, and in the Europe of the 21st century it is quite breathtaking. It is to be hoped that this judgment will not stand up in the European courts. But this is not only a legal issue, it is also and above all a political one. The ineffectiveness of the EU’s sanction mechanisms for such blatant violations of the European values by Member States must come to an end”.

Kaja Bryx, the VP of EHF and President of the Polish Rationalist Association adds: “As a Pole, I feel devastated by the Constitutional Court’s ruling on abortion, which will cause suffering to numerous Polish women and men. We ask the Humanists around the world to support our cause while thousands of Poles are gathering in all major cities to protest.”