"I can't live here anymore," a woman said.
Poland's government implemented a constitutional court ruling on Thursday banning virtually all abortions in the country. The move drew a fierce reaction from activists and sparked huge street protests across the country of almost 38 million.
Marching women sang "Think" by Aretha Franklin:
You better think!
(Think)
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me.
Yeah, think
(Think think)
You gotta set me free.
Oh, freedom
(Freedom)
Freedom!
(Freedom)
Oh, freedom!
YEAH, FREEDOM!
The Abortion Dream Team is an organization providing information on safe abortions and abortion rights advocacy in Poland.
There is fundraiser for the Abortion Dream Team:
[gofundme.com]
Here is an article about the organization:
[harpersbazaar.com]
I've conversed with some practicing Catholics about this - and most want this sort of ruling in the UK too. Life is life and given by god and to take it is crime against god and murder.
But as a parent who has had to jointly made the choice in having to save my wife or lose them both, then the choice must remain. We had my wife for another 15 years because of being able to abort the fetus.
As a support worker for adults with special needs, they too can fall pregnant. Thus the state must step in to remove the stress of that pregnancy from the person.
The catholic church has a long and checkered history in Poland, most recently with its involvement in support of the Solidarity movement that booted out the russkies. Poland is also currently in the grips of a move to the right politically, and I'm not sure the ban on abortions wasn't part of a coalition between church and right wing politics, like here in the US, but I wouldn't be surprised. The poles are a resilient people, having been conquered and removed from the map for 200 years - my grandfather's immigration papers said he came from Germany when in his mind he most certainly did not. If this unpopular decision irks the population, it will eventually be either widely ignored or swiftly overturned.
Solidarność na zawsze.
PiS is awful. Nuts.
"Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS) is a national conservative and right-wing populist political party in Poland. With 198 seats in the Polish Sejm and 48 in the Senate, PiS is currently the largest political party in the Polish parliament, and the dominant party of the United Right ruling coalition."