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Polish President Andrzej Duda said today that women themselves should have the right to abortion in the event of fetal harm.
The Associated Press described his statement as a reversal of the position of conservative rulers who lobbied for abortion restrictions, prompting mass protests.
“The law cannot require such heroism from a woman,” Duda said in a radio interview after days of protests in Poland over the Constitutional Court’s decision to declare abortion unconstitutional due to birth defects.
This statement stands in stark contrast to his initial reaction last week, when he welcomed the court ruling and stressed that he was against abortion, even in the event of irreversible damage to the fetus.
The deep divisions that have long been latent in Poland are now coming to light. Last night, far-right supporters attacked protesting women in some cities, including Wroclaw, Poznan and Bialystok.
Earlier, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, called on his followers to take to the streets to protect churches after women disrupted Sunday services and spray-painted church buildings.
Many interpreted his call as permission for violence against protesters.
