Women in Poland strike to protest proposal for abortion ban

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish women donned black, waved black flags and took to Poland's streets in large numbers on Monday, boycotting jobs and classes as part of a nationwide strike to protest a legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion.

Many men - including public figures - joined the thousands of women on the streets of Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and elsewhere across the largely Catholic nation on what was dubbed "Black Monday." The country already has one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws and opinion surveys show very little support for an even stricter law, despite the nation's deep Catholicism and conservative political direction.

Protesters rallied in other European cities in a show of solidarity, including in Brussels, where there was a picket in front of the European Union offices with banners reading "No to the abortion ban."

"Women must not be forced to deliver children from rape or that are unable to survive," Brussels-based Polish writer Grazyna Plebanek told the Polish news agency, PAP.

Women wore black in a sign of mourning for the feared loss of reproductive rights and for the deaths that they feel some women would face. Monday's events came after another "Black Protest" by thousands in front of the parliament on Saturday.

Under the existing law, a hard-won compromise between liberals and the church in force since 1993, abortion is banned except in cases where the woman's life is in danger, the fetus is irreparably damaged or the pregnancy results from rape or incest.

The new proposal, now being examined by a parliamentary commission, would make all abortions illegal, even in cases of rape or when the woman's life is at risk, with prison terms of up to five years for women seeking abortion and doctors who perform them.

The proposal for the stricter law came from an anti-abortion citizens' initiative that had gathered 450,000 signatures in this nation of 38 million, and is supported by the church. The conservative ruling party, Law and Justice, which has a majority in parliament, includes supporters of the proposal but it's not clear if there are enough to push it through.

Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski criticized the way protesters were expressing their views, telling reporters in Warsaw: "We expect serious debate on questions of life, death and birth. We do not expect happenings, dressing in costumes and creating artificial problems."

There were also counter protests Monday, with people attending special Masses held in shows of support for the abortion banl. At one in Lodz, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski, denounced the protests as a manifestation of a "civilization of death.".

A day of protests culminated in a huge rally in the afternoon in the heart of Poland's historic old town, with thousands braving the rain to form a sea of figures in black packed tightly together, the only color provided by their umbrellas.

In downtown Warsaw, some small shops were closed, with signs on their doors saying they were observing the strike, while in many places women showed up to work in black clothing. Coffee shops were filled with groups of women dressed head to toe in black ahead of the main rally.

One was 34-year-old banker Agnieszka Krysztopolska, who sat in a Starbuck's shop with several friends who were all boycotting work.

"I have two children and it's not like I am some kind of hardline feminist but I do not agree with somebody depriving me of the right to my own health or that of my children. I think this bill is just dangerous," she said.

Near her, 28-year-old Magdalena Gwozdz chatted with her 17-year-old sister, who was boycotting school.

"This should be a woman's choice and abortion should be available in case of rape or a damaged fetus," Gwozdz said. "This is Europe and we are in the European Union."

The private all-news broadcaster, TVN24, broadcast images of establishments in other cities joining the strike: a restaurant in Wroclaw that closed to let female employees participate, a museum in Krakow where none of the women showed up to work.

In Warsaw a popular actor and theater director, Michal Zebrowski, dressed in black, was in the box office selling tickets to allow the clerk to take part in the protest.

The day of action also included a call for housewives to refuse to do housework.

The organizers of Monday's strike took their inspiration from a strike by women in Iceland in 1975 when 90 percent of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to voice anger at discrimination in the workplace. A law the following year guaranteed equal rights for men and women.

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This story corrects that the Catholic prelate who denounced the "civilization of death" was Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Lodz, not Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw.