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– It is a shame of the Polish state against half the population, women. We will never forget that, says Krystyna Kacpura, director of the Federation of Women and Family Planning, to the AFP news agency.
Poland already has very strict legislation on abortion and the court’s decision means that almost all permitted abortions are stopped. Last year, just over 1,000 abortions were performed in the country. In 98 percent of the cases, they were injured fetuses, according to the BBC.
Protest at the house of the party leader
In Warsaw, some 15,000 people demonstrated against the verdict on Friday night, according to police estimates. Several thousand gathered in front of the house where the leader of the Conservative National Government Law and Justice party, Jarowslaw Kaczynski, lives.
“You have blood on your hands” and “You create hell for women” were some of the posters. Some women used metal hangers to symbolize the dangerous methods used where it is not possible to have an abortion legally, reports the AP news agency.
Kaczynski has said that even severely deformed fetuses that will not survive must be born to be baptized and buried.
Protests in various cities
Demonstrations were also held in other major cities, such as Krakow, Wroclaw, Szczecin and Katowice. More demonstrations are planned for Monday.
The protests coincide with a sharp increase in the spread of the infection and tighter restrictions to counter the corona pandemic. On Friday, more than 13,600 new cases were reported, a new record according to the Reuters news agency. Previously, a maximum of ten people was allowed to gather in one place, but as of Saturday the number will be reduced to five.
The decision of the Constitutional Court was taken by eleven votes to two, reports AP. The majority referred to the constitutional writings on the right to life of each individual and found that it is illegal discrimination to allow the abortion of fetuses because they are injured.
