Fourteen protesters have been detained in Warsaw, a police spokesman said.

This after yesterday's protests against Poland's almost total abortion ban.

People gathered across the country on Thursday night after the Constitutional Court ruled that abortion of fetuses with serious injuries is unconstitutional.

Serious birth defects are the most common of the few valid reasons for a legal abortion in the country.

- It is a devastating decision that will ruin the lives of many women and many families.

It will force the poor to give birth to children against their will.

The children will have no chance of surviving, or living independently or they will die shortly after birth, says lawyer Kamila Ferenc to the news agency Reuters.

Marched to politicians' houses

Hundreds of protesters marched on the home of the ruling Law and Order Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, where police blocked their way.

The protesters wore mouth guards in accordance with Poland's coronary restrictions but violated the ban on large crowds and 35 people were fined, reports Reuters.

The police used tear gas when the protesters threw stones and tried to reach the house.

Minor protests took place at the same time in Krakow, Lodz and Szczecin.

"It is crazy that such controversial decisions are made when the whole society lives in fear of the pandemic and is afraid to take to the streets," one of the protesters, Marianna Dobkowska, told Reuters.

"A sad day for women's rights"

98 percent of all abortions performed in Poland are performed due to serious birth defects.

Now women can make abortion legal only if they have been raped, when it comes to incest or if the mother's health is at stake.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic says it is "a sad day for women's rights".

"Removing the basis for almost all legal abortions in Poland is tantamount to a ban and a violation of human rights.

Today's decision means illegal abortions or abortions abroad for those who can afford it and even bigger problems for everyone else ", she writes in a comment.