WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Outraged by Poland’s already strict abortion law, female officials protested outside and inside the church on Sunday, defying Messi and facing charges of “barbaric” behavior.
At Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church, a group of far-right nationalists blocked the stairs toward the entrance. When a woman managed to make her way forward, the nationalists grabbed her and threw her on the sidewalk.
In a video posted from the northern Polish city of Szczecin, a young woman was forced to walk around a priest and be told to “go back to church” and “f-off.”
Sunday’s proceedings follow a ruling by Poland’s constitutional court on Thursday that declared abortion of a fetus with a birth defect unconstitutional. Poland already has Europe’s most prohibited abortion law and the ruling will result in a complete ban on abortion.
The scene of angry young women entering the church and confronting the clergy with obscenity signals a dramatic historical change in Poland, where the Roman Catholic Church has been revered as the supreme authority for centuries and where such events would not have been imagined so long ago.
The Catholic Church gained respect during the communist era for supporting pro-democracy dissidents in their freedom struggle, and Pope St. John Paul II was named national hero at the end of Poland.
But today, Poland’s Catholic Church is often seen by liberal poles as a reactionary force, aligned with the country’s right-wing government.
The events on Sunday saw a further escalation of the cultural war in Poland as women and LGBT rights officials turned to more radical protest methods after years of lobbying for most rights did not yield the desired results.
A young woman from the church also stood by the altar with a sign that said, “Let’s pray for the right to abortion.”
Posted by an LGBT rights group, Grupa Stonewall Video People protest at a church in the western Polish city of Poznan, saying, “We have had enough!” Churchgoers shouted “Barbarians!” Answered by chanting no.
The church slogans were spray-painted and the phone number given to an organization that helps Polish women looking for abortions or abortion pills abroad.
Some polls argued on Twitter that people should not bring politics into churches. Others say Poland’s powerful Catholic Church is the first to participate in politics by imposing a complete ban on abortion and supporting the country’s right-wing government and in some cases far-right organizations.
Polish media accounts at the time also reflect the deep division.
The pro-government news portal, the right-wing, had a headline in Rzji stating: “Destructive churches have disturbed the people. Defamatory protests by feminists. “
The liberal newspaper Gazeta Viborza published a headline: “Aggressive reactions of policemen all over Poland … scenes like those of Belarusians on the streets.”
The organizer of the protest, Women’s Strike, argues that forcing women to give birth to a fetus with a serious defect will cause unnecessary physical and mental suffering.
The organization vowed to hold more protests next week, including blockades on cities on Monday, a nationwide strike by women on Wednesday and street protests on Friday.
The actions come at a time when the Polish government is struggling to contain anger over rising coronavirus cases and sanctions that could hurt the economy.
Thursday’s ruling came as Poland’s nationalist ruling party politicized the court – including a constitutional tribunal – and used discriminatory language against LGBT people.
Last week, the president swore in a new education minister Those who have said that LGBT people are not equal to “ordinary people” have argued in support of corporal punishment and said that the main purpose of women in life is offspring.
Health ministry figures show that 1,110 legal abortions were performed in Poland in 2019, largely due to fetal defects. The only other legal cases left for abortion are rape or involuntary or if the pregnancy threatens a woman’s life or health.
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