Violent, pro-abortion riots continued this week in Poland with abortion activists vandalizing churches and a Catholic archbishop’s home as they demand to be allowed to abort unborn babies with disabilities.
UCA News reports Polish Catholic bishops called for peace and civil discussions in a statement Wednesday amid the on-going protests.
“We observe with great pain this escalation of social tension and aggression — the vulgar language some protesters are using, the destruction of social property, devastation of churches, profanation of holy places and prevention of liturgies,” the Polish Catholic bishops said.
According to the report, protesters blocked the streets around the Archbishop of Czestochowa’s home earlier this week and broke several windows. Other Catholic leaders reported vandalism, harassment and interruptions at Mass across the country.
The bishops thanked people for protecting church buildings and other sacred sites from further vandalism and violence.
Abortion activists have been rioting across Poland ever since the nation’s high court issued a ruling Oct. 22 banning discriminatory abortions on unborn babies with disabilities. So far, authorities have arrested at least 76 people, the AP reports.
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More unrest is expected this weekend. According to the AP, pro-abortion groups plan to hold the largest protest yet on Friday in Warsaw – despite city coronavirus restrictions and a massive increase in cases in the past week.
Here’s more from the report:
The national public prosecutor has vowed to file criminal charges against organizers of the protests for “causing an epidemiological threat,” a charge that could carry a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek also threatened to cut off funds to universities that have supported the protests.
Poland is one of the few countries in Europe that protects unborn babies from abortions in almost all cases.
On Oct. 22, Poland’s constitutional court struck down one of the few exceptions allowed in its 1993 abortion law – abortions on unborn babies with disabilities. The justices ruled that the exception violates the constitution because it discriminates against human beings with disabilities.
Poland still allows abortions in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life.
The ruling could save thousands of babies’ lives. Polish health officials reported 1,100 abortions in 2019, according to the report.
Protests began soon after the ruling was announced, and pro-abortion feminist groups said they are planning more protests for the coming weeks.
Last week, the BBC reported police arrested 15 pro-abortion protesters after they began throwing stones in Warsaw. The report, along with others from NBC News and the AP, indicate several rioters also were arrested for trying to break through a police blockade outside the home of Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is pro-life. Reports say police used pepper spray to quell the rioters.
Abortion activists also broke coronavirus restrictions in Warsaw. The city has a 10-person limit on gatherings, and city police said they fined 35 people for breaking the restriction, the Independent reports.
On Sunday, The Daily Mail reports pro-abortion rioters vandalized churches in several cities across the country. According to AFP, police also detained several pro-abortion protesters for trying to force their way into a church in Warsaw.
In the city of Poznan, dozens of pro-abortion protesters did break into a church and disrupt a service, shouting, “We’ve had enough!” and “Barbarians!” as they held signs up in front of the altar, the Mail reports.
Pro-life and political leaders celebrated the news as a huge victory for the rights of unborn babies.
“One cannot kill a child for being sick. This is not a fetus, it is a child,” MP Maria Kurowska, of United Poland, told Reuters.
Mikolaj Pawlak, the commissioner for child rights in Poland, also celebrated the ruling.
“The decision of the Constitutional Court declaring eugenic abortion incompatible with the constitution is a victory of life over death,” Pawlak said. “It is a restoration of equal rights for every human being, including those who have not yet been born.”
