Abortion in Poland, Who Holds The Real Eco-Power
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 26 October 2020
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Poland's top court has ruled that abortions in cases of foetal abnormality are unconstitutional. Poland's abortion laws were already among the strictest in Europe but the Constitutional Tribunal's ruling will mean an almost total ban. Once the decision comes into effect, terminations will only be allowed in cases of rape or incest, or if the mother's health is at risk. We hear from Justyna Wydrzynska, who runs a group in Poland which gives information about abortion to women you want it.
Public concern over the state of our planet is at a record high. But for all the targets and strikes and banning plastic straws, change still feels pretty slow. So what's the problem? Three women, who are suggestions for this year’s Woman’s Hour Power List, plus one of our judges, talks about the kind of power that brings about change, their own quests to make a difference, and how they keep going. We have Karen Shackleton, Sian Sutherland, Hil Berg and Emma Howard.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.4 | Hi this is Jane Garvey and warm welcome to the Women's Hour podcast from Monday the 26th |
| 0:10.2 | of October 2020. Hello, good morning. Don't forget the Women's Hour |
| 0:13.9 | Power List. Our planet is the subject this year is officially unveiled on the 16th of November |
| 0:20.6 | and there's been so much interest in the powerless this year. Thank you for all the suggestions |
| 0:25.0 | you've made to us of women you'd like to appear on that list. We are talking to some of |
| 0:29.8 | your suggested women on Women's Hour today when we discuss who has the real power to make change |
| 0:36.2 | when it comes to the environment. And one of our guests is the chair of the Environment Agency |
| 0:41.6 | Emma Howard Boyd is live with us on Women's Hour this morning. There's also a campaigner |
| 0:46.4 | on clean rivers from Ilkley. We're talking to Toshan Sutherland who is the co-founder of a plastic |
| 0:52.3 | planet and to Hillburg who works as a business advisor to Iceland Foods and I should say that our |
| 1:00.0 | guest from Ilkley from the Clean River campaign is Karen Shackleton. So looking forward to talking |
| 1:05.9 | to all of those impressive women on the program a little later. First of all we're going to go to |
| 1:11.1 | Poland where the country's top court has ruled that abortions in cases of fetal defects are |
| 1:17.2 | unconstitutional. Now abortion laws in Poland were already among the very strictest in Europe |
| 1:23.5 | but the constitutional tribunals latest ruling does mean a near total ban on abortions. Terminations |
| 1:30.9 | will only be allowed in cases of rape or incest or if the mother's health is at risk. |
| 1:36.9 | There have been protests across Poland. There have been protests in London too and there is |
| 1:40.9 | another one tonight at the Polish Embassy just down the road from the BBC at about six o'clock this |
| 1:46.4 | evening. We're talking a moment to a campaigner in Poland are correspondent there though is Adam |
| 1:52.9 | Eastern. Adam good morning to you. Good morning Jane. So tell us a little bit about why and how |
| 1:59.7 | the Polish government has done this. It has done this because it is a supporter of traditional |
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