Thousands oppose Polish abortion laws

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Thousands of Polish people took part in rallies on Saturday following the death of a pregnant woman whose case has sparked controversy over abortion laws in the country.
In the capital city of Warsaw, thousands of people marched through the city, carrying placards with such slogans as “My body, my choice”, and “If it were any of us”, I would sing “Not a single woman”, and “Shame!”
Small demonstrations and demonstrations also took place in towns and cities, including Gdansk, Wroclaw, Szczecin and Pszczyna, a town in southern Poland where the woman died.
A 30-year-old boy, known as Izabela, died at the hospital during the 22nd week of pregnancy when his fluid broke. Her family said in a statement that they had told doctors that they were waiting for their unborn child, who was born with a congenital defect, to die instead of an abortion. The baby died, and after staying in the hospital for at least 24 hours, Izabela died of septic fever.
Izabela’s death follows a ruling by a Polish court last year stating that the 1993 law on abortion in the case of a serious fetal case was illegal.
The ruling, which sparked widespread protests across the country, already reinforced anti-abortion laws in the EU and left only two reasons: a threat to women’s health or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
Politicians of the ruling Conservative Nationalist Law and Justice, which is closely associated with the Catholic Church in Poland, said the law would not prevent abortion in the case of Izabela.
“If a woman’s life or health is threatened then abortion is possible, and here nothing has changed,” said Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister this week.
However, women’s rights activists say that tightening the law has made doctors fear abortion, even though it could be life threatening.
“Things are getting worse. . . The gradual abolition of women’s rights is being completely eradicated, “says Ola Wlodarczyk, a 32-year-old who joined the march in central Warsaw.
“We want our rights, our freedoms in our bodies to be restored. The right to abortion is a fundamental human right…[This case shows]that these are not just words written on billboards and empty songs in the streets. It has a profound effect on the lives and health of mothers. ”
Doctors at Pszczyna said on Friday that two doctors who worked while Izabela was in hospital were suspended.
In a previous statement, it said “all medical decisions were made based on the application of the rules and regulations of practice in Poland”.
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