Hundreds of protesters dressed in black have taken to the streets of Warsaw for the latest demonstration against efforts by the nation’s conservative leaders to tighten Poland’s already restrictive abortion law.
A large group gathered on Sunday outside the parliament building in Warsaw, chanting: “We have had enough!” Polish media reported similar protests in cities and towns across the country.
The protests are expected to continue on Monday, with some women planning to strike and boycott jobs and classes.
Similar protests took place earlier this month against a proposal for a total ban on abortion. But lawmakers rejected that proposal after tens of thousands of people dressed in black staged street protests under their umbrellas in the rain.
At the time, the Liberal MP and former prime minister Ewa Kopacz told reporters the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) had “backtracked because it was scared by all the women who hit the streets in protest”.
The latest round of demonstrations, held under the slogan “We are not putting our umbrellas away”, was organised in response to a new proposal that would fall short of a total ban but outlaw abortions in cases where foetuses are unviable or in cases of severe foetal abnormalities.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of PiS, said recently he wants the law to ensure that women carry their foetuses to term in cases of Down’s syndrome or even when there is no chance of survival. The move would allow for baptisms and burials, Kaczyński said.
His socially conservative party won parliamentary and presidential elections last year with the support of Poland’s powerful Roman Catholic church, Catholic media outlets and religious voters. Many observers see the attempts to further restrict abortion as a way for the party to repay its debt to its religious base.
However, the proposals have proven too restrictive for many Poles, including some who voted for the party.
The “black protests” appear to have shifted public opinion on the issue, with recent polls suggesting not only near-overwhelming opposition to the proposed ban, but increasing support for the liberalisation of existing laws.
Abortion was legal and easily available under communism in Poland, but after its fall the country re-embraced many of its Catholic traditions. The current law, passed in 1993, bans most abortions, with exceptions only made in cases of rape, if the mother’s life or health is at risk, or in cases of severe foetal abnormality.
Official statistics show there were 1,040 legal abortions in Poland last year, although many more abortions are known to take place, with women traveling to neighbouring countries for the procedure or ordering abortion pills online.
