Women’s groups and human rights campaigners in Poland have staged protests against a proposed new law that would criminalise nearly all abortions. Fewer than 1,000 legal abortions are carried out in Poland each year, according to the health ministry. But independent groups have estimated that between 80,000 and 190,000 Polish women undergo terminations annually, either in “backstreet” procedures or by travelling abroad. “Getting access to their legal abortion rights is already a hard road for many women. However, even Poland’s main opposition party, the Civic Platform, has opposed liberalising the abortion law.

Source: The Guardian September 18, 2016 15:44 UTC