Thousands join Poland protests against strict abortion laws

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Poland: scuffles erupt as thousands protest against abortion ban – video report

Thousands of people marched in cities across Poland on Saturday in the third straight day of protests against a near-total ban on abortion, with some promising further action in the coming days.

The protesters were reacting to Thursday’s ruling by Poland’s highest court that an existing law allowing the abortion of malformed foetuses was incompatible with the constitution.

The ruling has provoked an outcry from rights groups in and outside the deeply Catholic country of 38 million people. Some protesters chanted: “Freedom, equality, women’s rights.”

Many of the banners and placards, bearing slogans such as “disgrace!” and “war on women”, also carried the red lightning image that has become a symbol of the protests.

Opponents of the ruling have called for a referendum on the right to abort malformed foetuses, and some have announced they will block traffic nationwide on Monday.

The ruling means abortions will only be allowed in instances of rape, incest or if there is a threat to the woman’s life.

There are already fewer than 2,000 legal abortions a year in Poland, and the vast majority take place because of malformed foetuses.

Women’s groups estimate that as many as 200,000 procedures are performed illegally or abroad each year.

The demonstrations went ahead in defiance of a government ban on public gatherings imposed as part of measures designed to reduce the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.

Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, tested positive for the virus on Saturday as health authorities reported a near-record 13,628 cases over the last 24 hours and a record daily death toll of 179.

The constitutional court’s verdict is in line with what Poland’s Roman Catholic episcopate and the governing rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party wanted.

The court has been reformed by the PiS government, and has since been accused of counting many judges loyal to the party in its ranks.

The changes at the court are part of controversial judicial reforms that have put Poland on a collision course with the EU over concerns they undermine judicial independence and the rule of law.

Thousands of mainly young protesters gathered on Friday night near the Warsaw home of Jarosław Kaczyński, considered Poland’s ultimate powerbroker as leader of the PiS. Ranks of police in riot gear barred their way.

Elsewhere in Poland protesters gathered in main squares, outside PiS premises or near churches.

The abortion ruling drew immediate condemnation from the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body. Its commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović, called it “a sad day for #WomensRights”.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also condemned the ruling.