Poland has ruled that abortions for foetal abnormalities violate the country’s constitution and has effectively imposed a near-total ban on terminations. This in a nation, where the Catholic Church holds undue influence, that already had some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. Rape, incest, or the mother’s health being at risk will still be allowable reasons.
Recent polls show there is little public support for a tightening of restrictions and major protest demonstrations are planned for this weekend.
Poland’s history is messy in the extreme back for 150 years but modern independent democratic Poland got under way on 24 August 1989 at 1.05pm Warsaw. That was hardly an auspicious date for the feminine of Poland with a massively afflicted Gemini Moon square Mars and Sun in Virgo and on the focal point of a strained Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune.
The Gemini Lunar Eclipse of late this November will rattle up the Poland Moon with more upsets from the Eclipses in 2021. The Solar Arc Pluto on one leg of the Yod will also be in a totally-blocked and enraged square to the Mars within a few weeks which will bring strong reactions – perhaps involving health, economic and other factors as well as this. There’s also a shocked/upset Solar Arc Sun square Uranus exact now. It’ll be a bumpy ride ahead.
There are also some concerns in the UK where abortion has not been a contentious matter for several decades that foetal abnormality could be opposed as a reason for abortion on the grounds that it is discriminatory and “eugenic”. There are loud campaigns by disability rights activists to strike down what is known as Ground E (that there is a substantial risk that, if the child were born, it would suffer physical or mental abnormalities that would result in serious handicap) or to restrict the conditions that fall under it. For example concerns about abortion for cleft palate or Down Syndrome.
Why is the world going backwards?
ADD ON:
Poland’s conservative President Andrzej Duda was sworn in for a second five-year term on 6 August this year around 10am. Most opposition parliamentarians and former presidents and prime ministers did not attend the swearing-in ceremony, indicating their disapproval of Duda’s disregard for the constitution during his first term and his almost total acceptance of the ruling right-wing party’s policies that have put Poland at odds with European Union leaders. His party has moved to snuff out opposition through controlling the public broadcaster and eroding the independence of the judiciary by interfering in the appointment of judges and forcing some into early retirement.
International election observers noted this recent election campaign was “characterized by negative and intolerant rhetoric” and a “public broadcaster [that] failed to ensure balanced and impartial coverage.” “Inflammatory language by the incumbent and his campaign was at times xenophobic and homophobic . . . In the run-up to the election, the public broadcaster became a campaign tool for the incumbent, while some reporting had clear xenophobic and anti-Semitic undertones.”
Duda, 16 May 1972, is a controlling and stubborn Taurus Sun closely conjunct the destructive Fixed Star Algol trine Pluto; with Moon Venus Mars in traditionalist Cancer. And Neptune on the focal point of a Yod making him escapist, preferring to live in his ivory tower than get his feet on the ground and face reality. His imaginative and neurotic Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune will be rattled by this November’s Lunar Eclipse and by others through 2021, so he will be facing a few sharp checks.
He certainly dislikes the EU, despite happily accepting many billions from Brussels. The relationship chart has an aggravated Uranus, Pluto, Mars opposition Saturn Sun.
His Second Term chart like the first has an afflicted Mars, which has moved from an explosive square to Uranus for the 2015 chart – to a deeply frustrated, blocked and enraging Mars square Jupiter Saturn Pluto. If the 10am Swearing In time is about right. The Capricorn planets are in the 4th for a mutinous domestic scene; with an angry and argumentative 7th house Mars. Moon Neptune in the 6th points to unemployment and health being key issues which prove to be a disappointment and won’t be handled with any competence.
Duda is suffering from Covid at the moment but assuming he’s well enough to continue with his hand on the tiller, he’s facing a hugely disruptive 2021 with tr Uranus conjunct the Term 8th house Uranus and square the Sun with tr Saturn adding its tale of woe on top. 2023 looks like his nemesis though it will be foreshadowed by a destabilizing 2022.
Why does it seem like the world is going backwards? Reactionary social policies, nationalist leaders, economic policies favoring oligarchs over the people, freedoms being curtailed.
I think that it lies with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, which is serving to empower the reactionary element of society. Really their ascendency began with Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn the late 2000s, but Uranus in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn over the middle part of the last decade gave aspiring autocrats an opening. With Saturn moving into Aquarius in about 2 months time, conjuncting Jupiter, and later squaring Uranus in Taurus, expect a big clash between status quo-seeking reactionary forces versus reformers. As bad as it looks now, I’m confident that this just a phase and the pendulum will swing back in favor of the reformers, especially mid-decade and beyond. They will be held to account for their poor governing records.
I agree with you with fingers and toes crossed! I do have some questions about Aquarius though, as it can be quite stubborn and reactionary in its own way. Uranus in Taurus is such a curious mix of a security minded sign and element with the Uranian “revolution” theme. What’s happening with money around the world seems to be part of it, and I hope for some sort of environmental revolution and inventive solutions with this combination.
The Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius begins a new phase for everyone, and does look good for science and perhaps discoveries in space too. Amongst all the totally awful Medieval news, there’s some very interesting projects happening involving scientists from different countries working together.
Moon-Mars – angry women. This news about Poland is so depressing, although not a shock in any way, sadly. There are all the other issues around sexuality there as well. Poland’s Cardinal planets are perhaps not conducive to flexible thought, or the notion of choice.
Actually women have no respect for women’s rights.
I mean after 53% of white women voted for Trump in 2016 they only have themselves to blame when not if Roe v Wade is overturned.
As a gay black man in America I don’t care if marriage equality is overturned because police brutality are more approximate to my life than being able to have all of the legal and social protections of being married.
Anything lasting changes made pertaining to law enforcement will have to manifest on the local level.
This has been a year of women-led protests in the Eastern European countries, and I have every faith that the young women of Poland will resist this backward law.
Just a cursory glance at Andrzej Duda’s natal chart; not surprisingly he has Sun in Taurus exactly conjunct Algol, plus Mercury in Taurus – a marker in my experience of a fixed, conservative viewpoint, particularly in men. There is a yod with Neptune as the focal point in Sagittarius. He has a conjunction of Venus/Mars in Cancer which squares Pluto in the first degree of Libra and a T-Square on Uranus in Libra with the Moon in Cancer and Jupiter in Capricorn. Incidentally, I’ve noticed men with Venus in Cancer can often hold very ‘traditional’ views about women (D. Trump has this too).
It seems so at odds that on the one hand we have Pope Francis pushing for same-sex unions to be recognised the Catholic Church and on the other, this ugly lurch back to the dark ages.
There isn’t a country in the world at the moment where women’s voices lead the way. (Reminds me of a lovely male relative of mine who was the president for the society of unborn children – he was outraged when I asked why a woman wasn’t in that role (20 something years ago!!!). I think its because we are living through the 7th (?) period of mass extinction on earth, having ignored Earth herself and just taken, but men don’t get back to basics (children = responsibility= nurture = providing for/committing to) and women are so exhausted doing that, there’s no energy left for a fight. Is history repeating itself? why won’t we/men learn the lesson?
“Why is the world going backwards?”
Incidently, in Finland, they just passed a citizen’s initiative to make abortion “on demand” before week 12 of pregnancy. This far, it has, although nominally, required a “justification” on medical or social ground. This has been a “rubber stamp” given by consulted MD, because the social criteria are hard not to meet, but still humiliating in that a woman seeking a termination has to cite a reason. Changing Law only requires a simple majority, and will likely achieve it without an issue.
That said, I too can’t wait for this Cardinal/Fixed in Earth Outer Planet Season to end. The worst should be over soon enough when Saturn leaves Capricorn.
Yep. Jupiter and Saturn are already moving forward and will be out of Capricorn in two months. At that point, the reactionaries will be put on the defensive. Pluto will linger in Capricorn for another 2 years, but the heaviest of the energy should be out of here very soon.
Dear Marjorie, Thank you so much for this analysis! I live in Poland and quite a while ago this country turned out to be The handmaid’s tale, LGBT and women hating nightmare, I am in tears!
I also gather it’s very divided politically, very much like The US? North West, around Gdansk, and maybe West in general (I discussed this with a friend who lived in Poland, as well) being more progressive. Young people with progressive ideas being abroad. There were those female MPs who went viral for swearing in of a conservative president went viral for wearing outfits to form a Rainbow Flag in support of the LGTBQ+ community.