Warsaw Tens of thousands of people in many parts of Poland have taken part in protests as part of a women’s strike to limit the possibility of undergoing abortion. Abortion policy in a country where the Catholic Church has a strong influence is already one of the strictest in Europe. The protests are taking place at a time when Poland is facing rapidly growing numbers of coronavirus infections. Farmers, who were dissatisfied with the government’s plan to tighten animal protection regulations, also gathered in Warsaw on Wednesday.
The Constitutional Court, composed mostly of judges nominated by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, concluded last Thursday that abortion due to fetal harm was contrary to the constitution. According to statistics, these cases accounted for 98 percent of legal abortions in recent years. Abortions remain allowed if the mother’s life or health is endangered or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
In front of the University Hospital in Kraków, doctors from the gynecology and obstetrics department met for a minute in the morning. Assured that they did not want to leave their patients, they organized a protest before the service began. The University of Gdańsk announced rector’s leave on Wednesday, and some faculties of the University of Warsaw, for example, also canceled classes.
In the metropolis, crowds of people gathered in front of the headquarters of the conservative Ordo Iuris Foundation, which is pushing for a stricter abortion law, and they want to move in front of the headquarters of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament. It was surrounded by police officers with shields and tear gas. Farmers who intend to block important crossroads in the city are also heading for the Sejm to protest that the government wants to ban fur farms or export meat regulated according to religious regulations. They demand the resignation of the Minister of Agriculture.
Protesters in Poland blocked major roads after a top court banned most abortions: “I want choice, not terror”
The court, mostly appointed by the right-wing ruling party, banned abortions for fetal abnormalities. Critics say it will cut prenatal screenings and risk women’s lives. pic.twitter.com/3K4t4a2sSz
– AJ + (@ajplus) October 27, 2020
The mayor of Łód Hanna, Hanna Zdanowská, posted a photo on her twitter account with an empty chair behind her desk with the comment “Out of the office”. Public transport drivers in the city joined the strike, and they and their colleagues stopped the vehicles they were driving for a while. Protesters in various parts of Poland call slogans such as “Judgment on Women”, “Hell for Women” or “Away with the Dictator’s Duck”, meaning PiS Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman Jaroslaw Kaczyński, considered Poland’s most influential politician.
Instead of several articles, the liberal internet portal gazeta.pl posted a warning that “There should have been text, but we are on strike.” Women who want to express their displeasure took holidays or unpaid leave on Wednesday, somewhere the management of companies or authorities gave them themselves, some self-employed people left their businesses closed.
PiS chief Kaczyński warned on Tuesday that protests over the pandemic would cost many people their lives, and accused their organizers of public danger. In parliament today, Kaczyński accused opposition lawmakers of inciting protests during the pandemic. “You are destroying Poland,” he said. “You expose many people to death, you are criminals,” said the conservative politician.
President Andrzej Duda, who is in isolation due to the coronavirus infection, suggested a possible softening of the relevant law. He told private television Polsat News that abortion should be allowed if the fetus was threatened with death during or after physical exertion.
In an interview with Gazeta Polska, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: “The question of the admissibility of abortion arouses emotions all over the world, but the extent of the aggression and hate speech of recent days cannot be justified.” Polish media reported that some people misused the protests for vandalism and clashes with the police, and on Sunday in various places protesters broke into churches during masses. PiS chief Kaczyński warned on Tuesday that protests over the pandemic would cost many people their lives, and accused their organizers of public danger.
While President Andrzej Duda, who is in solitary confinement due to a coronavirus infection, is not due to comment on the tightening of the abortion law and the current protests until Wednesday evening, his daughter Kinga has already written on twitter that he cannot accept bears’. She argued that in a situation where a woman was in danger of giving birth to a child who could die a few minutes or hours after giving birth, she could decide for herself whether to keep the pregnancy or abort it. Kinga Dudová works as an adviser to her father on social issues and performs this work without the right to a salary.
Members of the Polish Parliament standing up for fundamental rights.
The message is clear:
OUR BODIES, OUR RIGHTS.
In Poland. In Europe. Everywhere.
Keep going. We are right behind you.
⚡️⚡️
@WandaNowicka pic.twitter.com/X2hwLsnfNc
— Terry Reintke (@TerryReintke) October 27, 2020
According to a public opinion poll published on Wednesday by the wyborcza.pl portal, 73 percent of people do not support the finding of the Constitutional Court, 13 percent of respondents agree with it and 14 percent do not have an opinion on it.
Four years ago, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets during a one-day warning strike over abortion policy and ruling conservatives’ access to women’s rights.
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