Beyond backsliding tracing the roots of Polish gender troubles with democracy in transition-era reproductive policies

Over recent decades, the Polish political landscape has experienced significant shifts, from an exemplary democratization to rapid decline to a recent democratic resurgence. While attacks on reproductive rights between 2015 and 2023 were recognized as an important component of “democratic backsliding,” many of these rights were never guaranteed in the first place. In fact, some, such as abortion rights, were rolled back as part of the process of democratization. To understand the gendered troubles with contemporary Polish democracy, we focus on that initial rollback in 1993 as a moment when the shape of Polish democracy and the new social contract were negotiated. We focus on how this controversial “Abortion Compromise” between political elites and the Catholic Church entrenched conservative values and restricted women's rights. Based on an analysis of policy and parliamentary debates, we argue that the resulting narrow understanding of the political demos and a weak formal democracy facilitated contemporary challenges to gender equality and Polish democracy, offering insights into the ongoing international debates on democratic backsliding and crisis.