Thousands of women are protesting against the new abortion ruling in the cities across Poland. On Tuesday, a Polish court banned all abortions – except rape cases, incest, or where the mother’s health is at risk. Most of the abortions are carried out when the fetus is malformed, and last year such cases accounted for nearly 98 percent of abortions, which have now been outlawed by the court.
The country already has European Union’s toughest abortion laws, with official figures suggesting that nearly 2,000 legal terminations are carried out every year. However, international women’s rights groups have maintained that more than 200,000 abortions are performed abroad or illegally.
More:
- Poland To Withdraw From Treaty On Violence Against Women
- US Supreme Court Rules To Uphold Abortion Rights
In response to the recent abortion ruling from the court, protests were held in Warsaw, Krakow, and Wroclaw, among other cities in Poland, the local media reported. On Thursday, a constitutional court issued the ruling, saying that the law allowing abortions of malformed fetuses is incompatible with the country’s constitution.
Last year, the legislature from the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) challenged the law, and the same party also appointed most court’s justices. Though the Polish religious leaders like the Archbishop hailed the ruling, the rights organizations both inside and outside the country criticized the move.
Friday marked the second day of demonstrations in the country, where strict social distancing restrictions are in place, banning gatherings of more than ten people. In the early hours of the day, the demonstrators clashed with riot police outside the house of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the deputy Prime Minister of Poland, who also chairs the governing Law and Justice Party.
When the protesters tried to push through the cordon around the house and threw stones, the police said that they used physical force and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Furthermore, the protesters gathered against outside the Deputy PM’s house late on Friday, carrying placards that read: “This is a war” and “you have blood on your hands.”
RushHourDaily reported that police troops in riot gear tried to stop the demonstrators and urged the protesters to obey the restrictions imposed on public gatherings. Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered outside public buildings in other cities across the country, including PiS buildings, main squares, and churches.
