Women’s Protests in Poland Restart as Court Ruling Virtually Banning Abortion is Published

A protester holds a Women's Strike symbol in front of police during a demo in Warsaw, Poland, 13 December 2020. EPA-EFE/MARCIN OBARA

While the Constitutional Tribunal made its ruling in October last year, the ensuing mass protests across the country led to a tactical retreat by the government: in what few in Poland doubt was a political decision by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the court, the highest in the land, never issued the justification for its ruling and the decision was, therefore, not published in the official journal.

On Wednesday afternoon, the government announced that the Constitutional Tribunal had finally issued its justification for the ruling. Consequently, the ruling itself would be published in the official journal later today, meaning it would now have to be applied and legislation changed to expand the abortion ban.

In response to the official announcement about the publication of the ruling, which came around 4pm, the Polish Women's Strike - the movement that organised and led last year's mass protests against the ruling - announced protests already for Wednesday night, to take place in Warsaw (in front of the Constitutional Tribunal building), Krakow, Lodz, Wroclaw, Poznan and Katowice. More locations would be announced as the evening progresses, the organisation said.

"They published the justification, they want to publish the ruling," the Polish Women's Strike wrote on Twitter this afternoon. "Let's make it hell for them, so that they remember it until the end of their lives."

Marta Lempart, one of the leaders of the Polish Women's Strike, told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that spontaneous protests are legal and people taking to the streets should not accept fines imposed by the police.<...

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