Organised by the Widzialne Foundation, the All-Poland Women's Strike and Akcja Demokracja, the demonstrations referred to the Constitutional Tribunal ruling of six years ago that tightened Poland's abortion laws.
Protesters said that despite the change of government in 2023, abortion law had not changed.
Demonstrations and counter-protests took place in several cities, including Warsaw, Kraków, Szczecin, Katowice, Łódź, Bielsko-Biała, Gdańsk, Poznań, Lublin, Białystok and Częstochowa. Police reported no incidents in several locations.
In Warsaw, the demonstration began outside parliament at 6pm. A counter-demonstration by opponents of abortion took place at the same time, with the two groups separated by a police cordon.
In Szczecin, northwestern Poland, protest co-organiser Natalia Rozkrut told PAP that there had been no changes since 2023 in access to legal abortion. She said protesters were disappointed and expected the government to fulfil its election promises.
In Gdańsk, northern Poland, Maja Pietrusiewicz of the Widzialne Foundation said protesters were giving the government a red card and demanding that it fulfil promises made to women a year ahead of the election.
In Białystok, northeastern Poland, organiser Julia Wysocka said the issue remained important and urgent. She acknowledged the current coalition's work on proposed legislation but said it was not enough, criticising what she described as two years of inaction.
Police estimated at least 200 protesters near the curia in Kraków, around 300 in Katowice, about 100 in Łódź, several hundred in Gdańsk, around 400 in Poznań and about 500 in Białystok.
On 22 October 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that a provision of the 1993 law allowing abortion in cases of severe and irreversible foetal impairment or an incurable illness threatening the foetus's life was unconstitutional. The ruling was published in January 2021, and that legal ground for abortion has not applied since.
Abortion in Poland is permitted in two cases: when pregnancy poses a threat to the woman's life or health, or when it results from a prohibited act, up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
On Tuesday, the Sejm passed two bills: one on partially decriminalising abortion and another seeking to restore the ground for abortion based on foetal impairment that was invalidated by the 2020 ruling. The bills will now be considered by the Senate before being sent to the president.
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Source: PAP