Polish feminist organization Strajk Kobiet (Women's Strike) has organized a protest in downtown Warsaw against the tightening of abortion rules, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2021) Polish feminist organization Strajk Kobiet (Women's Strike) has organized a protest in downtown Warsaw against the tightening of abortion rules, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday.
Several thousand protesters have gathered at a square in front of Warsaw's central railway station.
The demonstrators have blocked traffic in the city's major roads, Jerusalem Avenue and John Paul II Avenue.
The protesters are chanting "Have Right to Protest" and "Warsaw is Ours."
Strajk Kobiet's activists are collecting signatures under the draft of a new bill designed to secure women's right to abortion. The bill stipulates that pregnancy could be terminated during the first 12 weeks, and under some circumstances even later.
The rally is held illegally since mass gatherings are currently prohibited in Poland under the coronavirus-related restrictions.
The police do not detain the protesters but have warned them that the rally was illegal and their actions were violating the anti-coronavirus rules.
The rallies were ignited by the Polish constitutional court's decision last October that abortion due to fetal defects was unconstitutional. On January 27, the court confirmed its ruling. After the decision goes into effect, women in Poland will be able to legally terminate pregnancy only in the case of rape or a threat to their health.
