Thousands protest against proposed abortion ban
12:04
Thousands took to the streets in several Polish cities on Sunday to protest against a proposed full ban on abortion backed by Poland's ruling party leaders.
"My body, my business," "No to torturing women," "Hell of women continues," read the banners carried by protesters at a rally outside parliament in Warsaw. Many of them waved coat hangers, a symbol of underground abortions.
In certain churches, women conspicuously left Sunday masses, when clerics started reading a bishops' letter calling for a stricter abortion law. "Catholics' position on this is clear, and unchangeable: one needs to protect every person's life from conception to natural death," the letter said.
Last week, the citizens' initiative "Stop Abortion" informed the Marshall of the Sejm that it has started collecting signatures to completely ban abortion in Poland. Prime Minister Beata Szydło and PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said they support the initiative.
At present, Poland's abortion law permits the procedure only if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, if the mother’s life is endangered, or if the fetus is severely malformed.
