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WORLD NEWS Friday 23 OctOber 2020
Poland's top court rules out abortions due to fetal defects

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA have drawn condemna-
Associated Press tion from the European
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Union which says they vio-
Poland's top court ruled late the democratic prin-
Thursday that a law al- ciple of the rule of law.
lowing abortion of fetuses Archbishop Marek Je-
with congenital defects draszewski, known for his
is unconstitutional, shut- strong conservative views,
ting a major loophole in hailed the verdict and ex-
the predominantly Catho- pressed "great apprecia-
lic country's abortion laws tion for the courage" of the
that are among the strict- judges in the defense of hu-
est in Europe. Two judges man life "from the moment
in the 13-member Consti- of conception to the (mo-
tutional Court did not back ment of) natural death."
the majority ruling. Activists But opposition lawmakers
deplored the decision, and lashed out.
the Council of Europe's hu- The head of the Civic Co-
man rights commissioner alition, Borys Budka, said
wrote on Twitter that it was on Twitter that the govern-
a "sad day for women's ment used a "false" court
rights." of its own appointees to
Hours later, hundreds of Pro-choice activists from "Women Strike" attend a protest in front of Poland's constitutional court, do something "simply inhu-
protesters defied a pan- in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. man." Council of Europe
demic-related ban on Associated Press Commissioner for Human
gatherings and staged a legal abortions in Poland The challenged law was that 1,110 legal abortions Rights Dunja Mijatović de-
protest before the court — violates a constitutional introduced by Poland's were held in Poland in 2019, plored the decision.
with signs saying "You Have provision that calls for pro- young post-communist de- mostly because of fetal de- "Removing the basis for al-
Blood on Your Gowns" and tecting the life of every in- mocracy in 1993 as a hard- fects. most all legal abortions in
then walked to the offices dividual. won compromise between In justifying its decision, the #Poland amounts to a ban
of the main ruling conserva- The court argued that ter- the influential Catholic court said "there can be no & violates #HumanRights,"
tive party, Law and Justice. minating pregnancy due Church and the state au- protection of the dignity of she tweeted. "Today's ruling
The police were checking to defects of the fetus thorities. It allows abortions an individual without the of the Constitutional Court
their documents. amounted to eugenics — when a pregnancy endan- protection of life." means underground/
The ruling party will soon a 19th century notion of gers a woman's health or The verdict was announced abroad abortions for those
propose new legislation to genetic selection that was life, or results from rape or by the court's president, Ju- who can afford & even
better support women, the later applied by the Nazis in other illegal act, and also lia Przylebska, a loyalist of greater ordeal for all oth-
party's spokeswoman said. their pseudo-scientific ex- in case of congenital de- the right-wing government ers. A sad day for #Wom-
The court's decision came periments. fects. Only the last provision that is focused on family ensRights."
in response to a motion It agreed with the plain- was challenged. and Catholic values. Przy- Former European President
from right-wing lawmakers tiffs that it was a form of Even before Thursday's rul- lebska's appointment to and Poland's former prime
who argued that terminat- banned discrimination ing, many Polish women the court in 2015 was one minister, Donald Tusk, criti-
ing a pregnancy due to when the decision about have sought abortions of the government's first cized the timing of such key
fetal defects — the most an unborn child's life was abroad. steps toward taking control ruling during the difficult
common reason cited for conditioned on its health. Health Ministry figures show of the judiciary. These steps time of the pandemic.q

U.S. NATO allies still short on defense spending aims

By LORNE COOK ing 2% of their gross domes- Canada and Italy are fore-
Associated Press tic product on defense by cast to spend just under
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. allies in 2024. 1.5% this year.
Europe and Canada have According to the new The figures were being dis-
increased defense spend- data, France and Norway cussed Thursday by NATO
ing for a sixth consecutive are forecast to join eight defense ministers at a two-
year but most of them will other countries spending day videoconference.
still fail to achieve a NATO at least 2% of their GDP Given that gross domestic
spending ambition by the on defense this year. Those product varies with eco-
target date of 2024, ac- others are Britain, Estonia, nomic growth, the impact
cording to new figures be- Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, of the coronavirus, which
ing discussed by defense Poland, Romania and the has ravaged world econo-
ministers on Thursday. United States — which has mies, probably plays a large
NATO countries slashed a bigger budget than all 29 part in pushing France and
their military budgets in the of its allies combined. Norway over the 2% bar this
1990s after the Cold War, But the other 20 allies will year. In this Dec. 4, 2019, file photo, NATO Secretary General Jens
but they were spurred back not make the cut, accord- The 2% metric concerns Stoltenberg, front left, speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump,
into action when Russia an- ing to the projections. Their only national defense bud- front right, after a group photo at a NATO leaders meeting at The
nexed Ukraine's Crimean spending ranges from just gets — what each country Grove hotel and resort in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
Peninsula in 2014. below 2% in Bulgaria, Cro- spends to meet the needs Associated Press
That year, the allies atia, North Macedonia, of its own armed forces — of the 30 allies owes NATO mean that countries can
pledged to halt the cuts Slovakia and Turkey to less and has nothing directly to or its members money. But do more together on their
and move toward spend- than 1% in Luxembourg. do with NATO itself. None bigger defense budgets collective security.q