Poland: entry into force of the virtual ban on abortion, thousands of demonstrators

Audio 01:11

In Warsaw, demonstrators lit flares, waved rainbow flags, the emblem of gay movements, as well as signs with the inscriptions "This means war", "Free choice, no to terror" .

AP - Czarek Sokolowski

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

In Poland, several thousand people marched in dozens of cities across the country on Wednesday evening.

Demonstrations to protest against the entry into force of the decree of the Polish Constitutional Court which almost entirely bans abortion in the country.

The court ruled in October that abortion, in the event of a serious malformation of the fetus, was unconstitutional, a situation which accounts for the vast majority of legal abortions in the country.

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With our correspondent in Warsaw,

 Sarah Bakaloglou

Before the Constitutional Court, Dominika has tears in her eyes.

This 24-year-old young woman is in shock: “ 

I'm furious, I want to scream very loudly, I want to cry.

I feel so much emotion. 

"

A little further in the procession, it is also astonishment for Paulina.

The young woman thought that the

huge mobilization

of recent months in favor of the right to abortion would push the government to back down.

“ 

I am really disappointed.

It is as if my rights have been completely trampled on.

What does it mean to be a woman in Poland today?

No longer having rights, as if someone controlled my body, my choices.

It is really unfair. 

"  

The

majority of young women

interviewed confided in wanting to leave Poland.

This is the case with Deborah: “

 I am in a state of mind where I think about emigrating every day.

I must survive.

I don't feel safe at home or in this country in general.

I don't feel safe here. 

"

In Poland, only abortion in cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the woman are now authorized.

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