Polish women are outraged at the recent abortion ban that has ruled abortion for fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional. The new rule would only make abortion legal in the cases of rape, incest, and when the women’s life is at risk.
A total of 430,000 women and men joined in protest at Poland’s capital on Friday in a demonstration against Poland’s new abortion restrictions. According to the New York Times, women had red lightning bolts emblazoned on their clothes with the sounds of Darth Vadar’s theme from star wars and techno music blasting through loudspeakers.
“I’m here because my sense of helplessness has reached its peak”, said Anna Rabczuk, a graphic designer who attended with her boyfriend and held a banner saying “People before embryos.” She added: “I feel unimportant. I feel less and less like a Pole and I feel really sad about that.”
Reports from the New York Times claim that many viewed the pleas with skepticism, with critics suggesting the abortion ruling was timed to distract the public from the government’s failure to prepare for the wave of infection now washing over the country.
The court’s decision to stop pregnancy terminations for severe fetal abnormalities, effectively the only type of abortion currently performed in Poland.