Polish women strike against abortion ban

 

Women in Poland have gone on strike in protest against proposals for a total ban on abortions.

They marched through the streets wearing black as a sign of mourning for their reproductive rights.

Women who oppose the ban are staying away from work and school and refusing to do domestic chores, in a protest inspired by a women's strike in Iceland in 1975.

Anti-abortion protests are being held around the country too.

Women took to the streets of the capital city, Warsaw, in a pro-choice march on what they are calling "Black Monday".

It is unclear how many women are taking part in the action and how widespread it will be beyond big cities.

If the law, which has cleared one parliamentary hurdle so far, goes through, it will make Poland's abortion laws as restrictive as those in two other countries in Europe: Malta and the Holy See.

Women found to have had abortions would be punished with a five-year prison term. Doctors found to have assisted in an abortion would also be liable for jail time.

Abortion is already mostly banned in Poland.
The current exceptions are:

• where the woman's life is in danger
• where there is a risk of serious and irreversible damage to the foetus
• where the pregnancy is as a result of rape or incest - this must be confirmed by a prosecutor

Critics say the tightening of the law could mean women who have a miscarriage are also investigated, on suspicion of having had the pregnancy terminated deliberately. At early stages of pregnancy, miscarriages and abortions have indistinguishable symptoms.

One protester said: "We are saying 'enough is enough' over what is happening, to what the government, the Church and the so-called pro-life organisations are planning for women.

"They want to introduce an anti-abortion law which will mean in many cases, women will be sentenced to death. It will take away the sense of security they have, the treatment options available when pregnancy puts their lives or health in danger.
                           
A separate bill seeks to curb in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), allowing only one embryo to be fertilised at any one time, and banning the practice of freezing embryos.

The city hall in Czestochowa in southern Poland allowed female staff to take the day off on Monday, while several businesses have closed for the protests.

But the Catholic Church is among those who support the total ban. The Polish Bishops' Conference asked Catholics to pray for "the conscience and the light of the Holy Spirit on all Poles who protect human life from conception to natural death".

The country's foreign minister was another high-profile critic of the protests.

Witold Waszczykowski told Associated Press: "We expect serious debate on questions of life, death and birth. We do not expect happenings, dressing in costumes and creating artificial problems."

While pro-choice activists marched in black and tweeted pictures of themselves wearing black, anti-abortion activists choice white for the colour of their counter-protests.