WARSAW, Poland — Poland's government is stalling the implementation of a high court ruling that effectively bans abortion amid some of the biggest street protests since the fall of Communism.
Though the political climate is tense, this appears to be a bureaucratic slowdown. Verdicts become binding after they're printed in a government gazette, and the cabinet had until Nov. 2 to publish a ruling that further tightens one of Europe's strictest laws on ending pregnancies.
"There's discussion about the president's proposal, and it's good to give yourself some time for dialog and to work out a new position," Michal Dworczyk, the head of the prime minister's chancellery, told broadcaster TVN24 on Tuesday.
The standoff with the women-led protesters has become a critical moment for the ruling Law & Justice party that's been taking control over all facets of society in the name of ordinary Poles and Catholic traditions. The party has also managed to label the gay community and increasingly the country's partners in the European Union as enemies of the state.
While the government has ordered people to stay indoors to stop the spread of the coronavirus, that hasn't stopped pro-choice women from taking to the streets. Law & Justice party has lost about a quarter of its supporters as the tussle over civil liberties drags on.
The cabinet has in the past delayed publications of rulings it disagreed with, but this time the move appears aimed at avoiding — at least for now — an escalation that could stoke even bigger protests.
Last Friday, at least 100,000 people marched through Warsaw and more than half a million protested across the country.
President Andrzej Duda has proposed legislation to soften the impact of the court's verdict in the hopes of finding a political solution.
But his draft law was rejected by a number of ruling-party backbenchers, most of the opposition as well as the protesters, many of whom want a return of the nearly 3-decade-long status quo on abortion.
The ruling party on Tuesday delayed the next sitting, during which the bill may be debated, to mid-November.
