Poland: Abortion rights focus of annual women’s rights march

WARSAW, Poland – Some 2,000 women with colorful banners have walked through Poland’s capital city for an annual Women’s Day march in defence of women’s rights, including unrestricted right to abortion.

The 19th Warsaw “Manifa” march on Sunday focused on Poland’s strict anti-abortion law. It was enacted 25 years ago and allows pregnancies to be terminated for three reasons: when a woman’s life or health is threatened, the fetus is incurably sick or irreversibly damaged or a pregnancy results from a criminal act.

Poland’s right-wing ruling party wants to ban the possibility of abortion of sick fetuses, a plan that has drawn vehement protests from women’s organizations.