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For more than a week, demonstrations have been going on in the country against the expected tightening of Poland’s abortion laws. The biggest protests so far are expected on Friday.
– There are thousands of people on the streets of Krakow. “I have never seen anything like this in my whole life and I was born here in Krakow,” protester Agnierska Morstin tells TT by phone.
The demonstrations gained momentum after the Constitutional Court announced last week that abortion of injured fetuses is contrary to the constitution, opening up further tightening of the country’s already strict abortion legislation. A toughening would mean that almost all abortions are banned, as 98 percent of legal abortions in Poland are related to birth defects, according to Krystyna Kacpura of the women’s rights organization Federation for Women and Family Planning.
The protests have spread across the country and is described as a major movement for women’s rights. The demonstration differs in several aspects from previous ones in the country, including the age of the protesters.
– I have never seen such a youth association. Most are teenagers or in their 20s. It is a movement of young people where many have not yet voted, says Morstin.
He also points out that the protesters are more determined than before and use profanity in a way that was previously unusual in public space in Poland. Protesters have taken over churches and spray painted #pieklokobiet on the walls, a hashtag that can be translated as women’s hell. According to Morstin, it is not the religion he is opposed to, but the political influence that the Catholic Church has in the country.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called the protesters’ behavior “completely unacceptable” and warns that violence on their part could lead to “escalation.” He has said that anyone who values the best of Poland should try to defuse the situation and that the demonstrations run the risk of leading to a further spread of Covid-19.
On Thursday, Poland recorded a new peak in the number of covid-19 cases. In total, more than 300,000 cases have been reported in the country.
– I did not intend to participate in the protests due to the pandemic. But I felt like I couldn’t stay home. So I put on a mouth guard and went outside, Morstin says, adding that most people move around and try to keep their distance.
Magdalena Godlewska moved from Sweden to Warsaw 15 years ago and participates in the demonstrations in the capital. She believes it was no coincidence that the abortion decision was made just during the pandemic.
– They tried to sneak in with the new constitutional ruling. I and many others believe that the government thought it would escape because it is a pandemic. Therefore, people must be afraid to go out and protest, he says.
– But suddenly, basically all the young people have come out to demonstrate.
The prime minister left on Thursday Poland wants to avoid a second shutdown. But protesters fear that authorities will use the further spread of the infection to quell the protests.
– Those of us who demonstrate will not leave the streets before there is a change. But at the same time, there is a great risk that there will be a second shutdown in the country, to stop the demonstrations, says Agnierska Morstin.
Magdalena Godlewska describes the situation as dangerous and believes that Friday’s demonstration will be a warning of how it will unfold.
– Military police are on their way to patrol the streets. I think Friday will be a demonstration of what the future holds. They fought hard, but realized they had to start thinking about how to fix it, Godlewska says.
