Women march in 26 Polish cities as abortion bills head for a likely Nawrocki veto

Thousands of women marched through Warsaw and 25 other Polish cities on Thursday, and in London, to mark six years since a court ruling brought in a near-total ban on abortion, and to accuse Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s liberal government of failing to keep its promise to change the law.

Marchers carried red cards under the theme “Red card for abortion”, with banners reading “Abortion ban kills women” and “Women’s hell continues”. Organisers announced another protest for Sunday.

The marches came days after parliament passed two bills easing restrictions. One, from Tusk’s Civic Coalition and the Left, would partly decriminalise abortion and remove criminal penalties, now up to three years in prison, for helping someone end a pregnancy. It passed 217 to 213, with three abstentions. The other, from Poland 2050 and the Polish People’s Party, would undo the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that banned abortion for severe foetal abnormalities. It passed 233 to 203.

Both are expected to be vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki, a conservative.

Zofia Marcinek, of the Warsaw-based group Abortion Dream Team, called the bills “token gestures”. She argued that the government knew they were unlikely to survive a presidential veto and was trying to win back women’s support before next year’s parliamentary election.

Protesters want abortion fully decriminalised, legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy and full access to the morning-after pill. They also want local authorities to act against protests held outside hospitals in Warsaw and Gdańsk and the AboTak clinic in Warsaw.

Polish law allows abortion only in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life or health is at risk.