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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 29 January 2021
Poland: Near-total abortion ban takes effect amid protests

By VANESSA GERA Members of Poland’s rul-
Associated Press ing Law and Justice party,
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A which is aligned with the
near-total ban on abortion Roman Catholic Church,
has taken effect in Poland had sought the new restric-
and triggered a new round tion. They argued that it
of nationwide protests was a way to prevent the
three months after a top abortion of fetuses with
court ruled that the abor- Down syndrome, which
tion of congenitally dam- have made up a significant
aged fetuses is unconstitu- share of the legal abortions
tional. in Poland.
Led by a women’s rights Women’s rights activists
group, Women’s Strike, consider the new law to be
people poured onto the draconian.
streets of Warsaw and oth- The protesters are demand-
er cities and towns on Thurs- ing a full liberalization of the
day for the second evening abortion law and the resig-
in a row. nation of the government,
“I wanted to have more neither of which seem likely
children, you killed this de- in the short term.
sire,” read a banner held In the meantime, women’s
by one woman among the rights groups are seek-
demonstrators in Warsaw. ing new strategies to help
Some Polish women said women. The Federation for
that if they are denied the People protest against new anti-abortion laws, near the ruling Law and Justice party headquarters Women and Family plan-
right to terminate pregnan- in Warsaw, Poland Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021, to protest after the country’s top court on Wednesday ning says it will seek redress
cies in cases of badly de- confirmed its highly divisive ruling that will further tighten the predominantly Catholic nation’s strict in international courts, ar-
formed fetuses, they would anti-abortion law. guing that the new law vio-
not try to have children at Associated Press lates prohibitions of cruel
all. Poland’s top human ment. “This offensive is op- comes amid a broader tional court on Wednesday treatment and torture.
rights official denounced posed by civil society.” erosion of civil liberties un- issued a justification of a It is also assisting women
the further restriction of The only remaining legal der right-wing populist au- controversial October rul- who want to obtain abor-
what was already one of justifications for abortion thorities in Poland, as well ing that bans abortions in tion pills or travel abroad
the most restrictive abor- under Polish law are if the as Hungary. The erosion of cases of fetuses with con- for the procedure.
tion laws in Europe, calling woman’s life or health is democratic rights in the genital defects, even ones Some protesters Wednes-
it a tragedy for women. at risk or if a pregnancy re- two nations also is spread- so severe that there is no day covered their faces
“The state wants to further sults from rape or incest. To ing to other parts of ex- chance of survival upon with green handkerchiefs,
limit their rights, risk their date, about 98% of all legal communist central Europe, birth. The government then which are the symbol of
lives, and condemn them abortions in the country — presenting a challenge for published the court’s ruling the abortion rights move-
to torture,” said Adam Bod- of which there were 1,110 the European Union and in a government Journal ment in Argentina. The
nar, the human rights com- in 2019 — were performed U.S. President Joe Biden as of Laws. Those steps were South American country
missioner, or ombudsman, on the grounds of fetal mal- he seeks to restore demo- the formal prerequisites re- recently legalized abortion,
whose role is independent formations. cratic norms at home and quired for the new law to a historic change in deeply
from the Polish govern- The restriction of abortion abroad. Poland’s constitu- enter into force. Catholic Latin America. q
Iraq kills IS commander, a week after Baghdad suicide blasts

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA a senior commander of rare, twin suicide bombing dad, with many saying the militants and al-Issawi was
Associated Press the Islamic State group, by IS militants killed dozens attack — the first to strike killed in the firefight, the
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi the prime minister said on in Baghdad. the Iraqi capital by the mil- counter-terrorism agen-
security forces have killed Thursday, a week after the The Islamic State group itant group in three years cy said on its Facebook
had quickly claimed re- — was a failure of Iraq’s page.
sponsibility for the Jan. 21 intelligence. The Baghdad attack
blasts at a busy open-air “I gave my word to pur- also came as the U.S.-led
market in the Iraqi capital. sue the Daesh terrorists, coalition forges ahead
At least 32 people were we gave them a thunder- with plans to withdraw
killed and more than 100 ing response,” al-Kadhimi troops from the country.
were wounded. said, referring to IS by its U.S. troops have gradu-
Prime Minister Mustafa al- Arabic acronym. ally withdrawn from bases
Kadhimi tweeted on Thurs- Al-Issawi, born Jabbar al- across Iraq to consolidate
day that an “intelligence- Issawi, was killed in an op- in Baghdad and the Ain
led” operation in northern eration west of the city of al-Asad airbase in Anbar.
Iraq killed 39-year-old Abu Kirkuk where IS militants However, Iraq remains
Yasar al-Issawi, deputy are known to still have a heavily reliant on U.S.
commander and IS chief presence. weaponry and surveil-
in Iraq. The operation was lead by lance technology and ex-
The country’s security forc- Iraq’s elite Counter-Terror- pertise to root out IS pres-
In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, people and security es have faced mounting ism Service, in coopera- ence across the country’s
forces gather at the site of a deadly bomb attack in a market pressure after the Jan. 21 tion with Iraqi intelligence. north and the vast western
selling used clothes, in Baghdad, Iraq.
Associated Press attack in central Bagh- Iraqi forces clashed with IS desert.q