Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

“Time for a Women’s Strike”: Polish Feminists Organize Mass Protests for Abortion Rights

Mass demonstrations have exploded in Poland over abortion restrictions and the conservative policies of the government and the Catholic Church.

Antonia Civelli

October 28, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share

Defying Coronavirus restrictions, protests have increased across Poland to demand the reversal of the Constitutional Court’s ruling last Thursday which imposed an near-total ban on abortion. 

It has been a week of demonstrations, with protesters blocking roads and actions spreading even to smaller Polish towns. Activists are called for a women’s strike today. “We are not going to go to work, nor to school, nor to university … We have to stop this Poland for a while and build a new one,” announced activist Marta Lempart, head of the Women’s Strike collective that is leading the protests. Today, thousands of people walked off the job and thousands of students walked out of class to join the mass actions. 

The church has been a focus for the protesters, as the Catholic Church maintains an enormous influence over the state and the governing right-wing Law and Justice party. Activists have disrupted church services, many of them dressed as the red-robed characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Some of the activists carried posters depicting a pregnant woman being crucified and others sprayed the exterior walls of churches with graffiti of the popular “#Women’sHell” slogan. On Sunday night, tension rose as Catholic nationalist groups threatened to attack the marches.

The protests followed a court ruling that virtually banned abortion in Poland, a country, that  already had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Last year, only around 1,100 legal abortions were performed in Poland, but Lempart estimates that up to 150,000 were performed illegally or across borders. Abortion will now only be permitted in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother. Such cases represent only 2 percent of abortions, effectively rendering abortion completely illegal. The ruling also prohibits abortion in the case of fetal abnormalities. 

The protests have become increasingly widespread, as demonstrators across sectors express their discontent against the conservative Catholic government. In the words of Lempart, “Now it’s not about abortion alone, it’s about freedom in general and abortion has become a symbol of it.” Protesters are not only demanding the reversal of the court’s ruling. They want to make abortion more accessible. Although the demonstrations were initially concentrated in the cities, they have now spread to traditionally conservative towns and villages. Feminists have found support from diverse sectors: taxi drivers, farmers, and coal miners are among those who have joined the protests, speaking out against the draconian anti-abortion law and to express their own grievances against the government.

Demonstrators have been met with violent police repression. In the capital of Warsaw, riot police arrested and fined many protesters. Police have also deployed teargas, including in clashes in the southern city of Katowice. 

Feminists have mobilized with banners that read: “Enough!”, “This is hell for women” and “I want choice, not terror.” Piotr Wybanski, a protester, said, “I don’t care if it means a week, a month, three months or three years. I will be here until the end.” 

Other banners, aimed at the government and judges, said: “Your hands are stained with blood” and “Fight the virus, not women.” Poland currently has one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections in Europe, reporting a record number of cases and deaths while hospitals face devastating shortages. 

Of course, the recent abortion ruling does not mean that the number of abortions will decrease. Many women in Poland are already forced to travel to other European countries to have abortions. Or, as in much of the world, thousands of abortions will continue to be performed clandestinely, putting people’s lives at serious risk. This is particularly the case for working-class women, for whom legal abortions, particularly those performed abroad, are particularly out of reach. We must demand the right to safe, legal abortion around the world. 

Facebook Twitter Share

Europe

It is Possible to Win: The Pension Reform Crisis in France

A French socialist reflects on the way forward after Macron invites Article 49.3 to pass pension reform.

Paul Morao

March 20, 2023

France: Macron Bets On His Presidency as Millions Rise Up

A historic two weeks of mobilizations against Macron’s pension reform, with several sectors going into open-ended strikes, and including a spectacular show of solidarity on International Women’s Day. Yet despite the massive turnout, the government pushed through the reform Thursday night, using an antidemocratic maneuver to bypass the National Assembly. Which direction will the movement take? Will it fizzle out in a failed top-down union strategy, or will it generalize the struggle to all sectors from the bottom up?

Antoine Ramboz

March 17, 2023
Demonstrators march during a demonstration, Tuesday, March 7, 2023 in Paris. LEWIS JOLY / AP

French Socialists on the Potential and Strategy of Working-Class Struggle

Juan Chingo and Romaric Godin discuss the working-class struggle in France, its potential, and its weaknesses, as well as the strategic problems that it faces.

Ukraine: One Year of a Reactionary War

Beyond the sloganeering from some about “freedom and democracy,” and from others about the struggle against “Ukrainian Nazism,” this war is decidedly not one of the workers and popular classes. After a year of debate in characterizing the war, French international analyst Philippe Alcoy articulates an anti-imperialist and class-independent position.

Philippe Alcoy

February 28, 2023

MOST RECENT

20 Years Since the U.S. Invasion of Iraq: A Reflection from a Socialist in the Heart of Imperialism

A Left Voice member and anti-war activist reflects on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and how he learned to hate U.S. imperialism.

Sam Carliner

March 20, 2023

“We are your economy”: Trans Youth Walkout and Speak Out

The following is a speech by a young trans person as part of an action called for by NYC Youth for Trans Rights.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 20, 2023
Three tables full of food, with signs hung above them. One says "The People's Pantry: FREE FOOD." Banners hung from the tables say "Free CUNY" and "Cop Free School Zone"

CUNY Administration Cracks Down on Student and Worker-Run Food Pantry

Students and workers opened "The People's Pantry" seven weeks ago as part of a broader anti-austerity campaign at CUNY, leading to several direct confrontations with the administration.

Olivia Wood

March 19, 2023

Neither NATO Nor Putin: An Anti-war Program for an Anti-war Protest

The following is a flier that Left Voice distributed at the March 18 rally in DC with the anti-war program we believe we must all take up.

Left Voice

March 19, 2023