Thousands join marches against proposed abortion restrictions in Poland

Tens of thousands of Polesdressed in black protested across the country on Friday againstan attempt by the ruling conservatives and the powerful CatholicChurch to ban most abortions.

The "Stop Abortion" draft bill, opposed by numerous rightsgroups, would remove the main legal recourse Polish women havefor getting a termination in a country that already has one ofthe most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union.

"I am against treating woman as an inferior type of humanbeing," Malgorzata, 58, a psychologist who joined the "Black Friday" protest in Warsaw, told Reuters. "I support women'srights to decide about their bodies and their lives."

Under current rules, abortion is allowed in threecircumstances danger to the mother's health, rape or incestand when prenatal tests show serious, irreversible damage to thefetus.

The bill, already approved for further debate by the lowerchamber of parliament in January and by a parliamentary committee earlier this week, would remove the third category,which currently covers more than 90 per cent of legal abortions.

It is the second bid by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS)party to tighten abortion rules. In 2016, after about 100,000 people joined protests and support for PiS declined, the partyrejected a bill that would have imposed a near-total ban.

Health, rights

Several thousand protesters gathered near the parliamentbuilding in Warsaw, with banners reading: "Woman is a HumanBeing Not an Incubator" and "We Are Going after Law andJustice."

The protesters chanted "freedom of choice instead ofterror."

Preventing women from accessing safe and legal abortion care jeopardizes their human rights.- Nils Muiznieks, Council of Europe

A Warsaw city spokesman said about 55,000 people took part in the protest in the capital, the largest one in the country. Police gave a lower estimate at 20,000. Thousands of people participated in other major cities.

A group of UNhuman rights experts called on parliament toreject the bill, saying it risked causing serious damage to women's health.

"Preventing women from accessing safe and legal abortioncare jeopardizes their human rights," Nils Muiznieks of the Council of Europe human rights group said.

In Poland, causing the death of a fetus apart from caseswhere is it legal carries a penalty of up to two years in prison. Women that have terminations are not penalized.

'Unconditional respect'

After the 2016 setback for anti-abortion campaigners,PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said his party would strive to amend laws to make sure that even severely deformed fetuseswere born so they could be "baptized, buriedand be given aname."

Polish Catholic bishops called in March on lawmakers toshow "unconditional respect for every human being in all momentsof its existence."

The PiS party has close ties to the Catholic Church anddepends on its support in elections.

Jerzy Kowalewski, a 70-year-old retired sociologist, saidthe protest was an opportunity to express his opposition to thePiS government.

"[The abortion issue]is a political calculation. PiS wantsto curry favours with the Catholic Church," he said. "If they say abortion is murder, why not punish it like murder, with25-year prison terms.