Polish Ruling Party’s Backing Plunges on Abortion Ban
- Party loses a quarter of supporters after abortion ruling
- Protesters block streets after huge pro-choice rally Friday
Photographer: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images
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Support for Poland’s ruling party plunged after its chairman, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, defended a Supreme Court abortion ruling, denounced protesters and called on people to defend churches “at all costs.”
More than half a million Poles protested in about 500 towns and cities on Friday against the Oct. 22 ruling, which effectively banned all abortions except for in cases of incest, rape or danger to the mother’s life. On Monday, groups of demonstrators blocked key roads and intersections, slowing or stopping traffic on the capial for a second time in a week.