Abortion ruling condemns women to torture, warns human rights chief
Poland's top human rights official has denounced a court ruling that amounts to a near total ban on abortion, saying it imposes a severe limitation of women's rights and "condemns them to torture".
The constitutional court has issued a justification of a controversial October ruling that bans abortions in cases of foetuses with congenital defects, even when they are so severethereisnochanceofsurvival.
Anti-government protests broke out i n Polish cities after the country's top court confirmeditshighlydivisiveruling.
After the court published its explanation on Wednesday, Poland's right-wing nationalist government published it in a government journal, meaning a near total ban has taken legal effect.
Only crimes like rape and incest remain as reasons for legal abortions.
Large protests erupted on Wednesday evening across a nation which is traditionally a bastion of Roman Catholicism but undergoing rapid secularisationamongyoungurbanresidents.
Thousands of people gathered outside the court building in Warsaw, responding to calls for new protests by women's groups that led weeks of massive demonstrations last year against the initial October 22 ruling. Protests were also held in many other cities, under a heavy police presence.
In Warsaw, protesters later marched through the city centre to the ruling party's headquarters with signs of the leading"women'sstrike"groupand pro-lgbtrightsrainbowflags. Like in last year's demonstrations, they defied Poland's pandemic ban on gatherings.
"The justification of the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal is a growing drama for women," Adam Bodnar, the human rights commissioner said on Thursday.
"The state wants to further limittheirrights,risktheirlives, and condemn them to torture," added Mr Bodnar, who is independent from the government. "This offensive is opposed by civil society."
Amnesty International called it "a terrible day for women and girls in Poland".
"They serve only to damage women's health by pushing abortions underground or forcing women to travel to foreign countries to access abortioncaretheyneedandtowhich theyhavearight,"saidamnesty senior research adviser Esther Major.
Poland's conservative ruling party, Law and Justice, has long sought to further restrict abortion rights. Past attempts to do so triggered mass street protests which saw the plans shelved.the main opposition Civic Platform party condemned the court's move as "a provocation" by Law and Justice. "The government is trying tocoverupitsincompetence(in dealingwiththepandemic)and is doing that in a cynical way," Civic Platform leader Borys Budka tweeted.
Another opposition leader, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-kamysz, tweetedurgingthegovernment to "save the economy, don't set Poland ablaze".
The court ruling bans the abortion of foetuses with congenitaldefects,andcriticsargue thatitnarrowsthealreadytight law to a near total ban of abortions.itwasmadeinresponseto amotionfrom 100rulingparty politicians, whose names have not been made public.