Clad in black from head-to-toe, and waving black flags, thousands of women poured into streets of Warsaw Gdańsk, and across Poland Monday for a second consecutive day to protest a new law that would effectively restore a ban on abortion in the Catholic nation.

Many women were supported by husbands, boyfriends and sons as they boycotted their jobs and classes. The color black represented mourning for their lost reproductive rights, and for the women who will surely die from back-room and illegal abortions if the Polish Parliament passes the legislation as it now stands.

Thousands of people also protested on Saturday in front of the parliament in Warsaw. Poland’s abortion laws are already among the most restrictive in Europe, with terminations legally permitted only in cases of severe fetal abnormality, grave health risks to the mother, or if the pregnancy results from rape or incest.

But if passed, the new law would criminalize terminations altogether, with prison sentences as of as long as five years for women. Doctors found to have assisted in abortion could also serve prison terms.

Protesters and other critics say that even women who suffer miscarriages could come under criminal suspicion and that the law might have a chilling effect on doctors performing routine surgical procedures on pregnant women for fear of being accused of facilitating a termination.

Pro-choice activists called for the strike, or “national absence campaign” following a September 23^rd vote by the Polish parliament to submit the proposal for study by a legislative committee. Women were encouraged to take a day off from work and domestic tasks and assemble for meetings or demonstrations, to donate blood or do charity work.

“A lot of women and girls in this country have felt that they don’t have any power, that they are not equal, that they don’t have the right to an opinion,” Magda Staroszczyk, a strike coordinator told the Guardian newspaper over the weekend. “This is a chance for us to be seen, and to be heard.”

Turnout Monday was massive. In Częstochowa, perhaps the country’s most Catholic city, city officials said that 60 percent of female workers had not turned up to work.

With some of its own newscasters appearing on screen dressed in all-black, the private news organization TVN24 broadcast from a restaurant in Wrocław that closed to allow female employees to participate, as well as a museum in Krakow where none of the women showed up to work.

Monday’s protest was inspired by a 1975 strike by women of Iceland in which 90% of women refused to work, cook, or look after their children for a day.

Telesur

* Telesur. Published 3 October 2016:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Women-Stage-Massive-Strike-to-Protest-Polands-Abortion-Ban-20161003-0005.html

Thousands of women go on strike in Poland to protect their rights

Thousands of women go on strike in Poland to protect their rights [IMAGES]GLOBAL
Women in Poland held an all-out strike on 3 October in response to proposed abortion legislation that would completely outlaw the procedure.

Currently, abortion is permitted in circumstances where the life of the foetus is threatened, there is a grave threat to the mother, or the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest. But if the new act is passed, all abortion will be criminalised. Women who have terminations could face prison sentences of up to five years, and doctors found to have assisted a termination could also face jail.

‘Black Monday’

For many women in the country, this is a restriction too far. There’s also a concern that the new rules may place women who suffer miscarriages under suspicion. Poland is a predominantly Catholic country, but as reproductive rights activist Krystyna Kacpura described in The Guardian last month:

“even Catholic women are appalled at the move by the Law and Justice party to restrict our already limited reproductive rights. “Not one step further,” goes the rallying cry.”

In response, pro-choice activists called for all women in the country to strike. The day has been called ‘Black Monday’ or the ‘black protest’ because activists say they are in mourning for their reproductive rights. Many are wearing black to signify this."

Initial reports on 3 October suggested that some businesses had closed to let their female employees participate. The city hall in Częstochowa, reportedly one of the most Catholic cities in Poland, reported that 60% of women had not turned up to work.

On the streets

Events took place around the country, and Polish women and journalists were sharing photographs and videos from the streets on Twitter (using hashtags related to the protest).

So far, thousands are thought to have joined the protests. And there have also been solidarity protests across Europe, from Berlin to Helsinki.

Where did it come from?

The proposal for the ban originated with a conservative advocacy group called Ordo Iuris, and was submitted to the government by the Stop Abortion coalition as a “citizen’s initiative”. Because the petition reached over 100,000 signatures, it had to be considered by Poland’s parliament.

Because many people in Poland are religious, support for restrictions on abortion is high – as many as 74% reportedly support the legislation as it stands. But according to a poll by Ipsos, 50% of citizens support the Black Monday strike. And judging from photographs on Twitter, more than a few of them were out on the streets.

The legislation is still being considered for now, but whatever the eventual outcome, Polish women achieved something admirable on 3 October, showing that you don’t have to take injustice sitting down.

Tilly Grove

Get Involved!

– Sign the open letter in solidarity with Polish women.

* THE CANARY. OCTOBER 3RD, 2016:
http://www.thecanary.co/2016/10/03/thousands-of-women-go-on-strike-in-poland-to-protect-their-rights-images/