Poland Stands for Life

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WARSAW, Poland (ChurchMilitant.com) - The recent ruling protecting unborn babies in Poland is triggering a torrent of protests. 

Radical feminists and their leftist allies reacted immediately to Wednesday's publication of Poland's pro-life ruling by the country's Constitutional Tribunal. The high court's new ruling practically outlaws abortion in Poland and even protects babies with disabilities by codifying its original October decision. Abortion will be still be permitted, however, in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother's life. 

News of the publication was met with immediate fury by members of All Poland Women's Strike (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet or OSK), a group of radical LGBT feminist activists in Poland, whose symbol is a red lightning bolt (often printed on black). The group's response reverberated across Twitter.

"Let us give them a hell that they will remember for the rest of their lives," threatened OSK members upon hearing the news.

On Wednesday evening OSK supporters gathered by the hundreds in Warsaw at the foot of the Constitutional Tribunal and in other cities.

"We are inviting everyone, please, go out, be motivated, so we can walk together [and] leave traces," rallied OSK leader Marta Lempart.

Lempart's urging to "leave traces" left many in the Polish media speculating about her meaning. According to Polonia Christiana, just minutes after the news was released, 41-year-old Lempart, a lawyer, held a press conference. Lempart threatened doctors who oppose abortion or who refuse to abort babies with prosecution — although the grounds for the threatened prosecution was not made clear. 

And to those who were responsible for publishing the new pro-life law, she threatened: "We will chase you for so long that you will remember nothing else in your life!"

Another OSK leader, Klementyna Suchanow, at the conference hinted: "Today is Jan. 27. Let us remember this date, because it may be an important date."

"Tonight can be tough," Suchanow warned referring to the planned protests in Warsaw. 

"Let's check how many police cars [Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the pro-life Law and Justice Party] can bring to Warsaw so that he is not afraid of us," she taunted.

Media sources reported that Lempart and followers wore green and white colors at the press conference instead of their usual red and black. This move, according to Polonia Christiana, signifies the international support for the protests in Poland. The green and white colors were also an obvious reference to the colors of pro-abortion feminist movements in Argentina, where, just days before, abortion on demand was legalized.

Protesters also attacked national media journalist Agnieszka Jarczyk while she was covering the Warsaw anti-life protests. According to Jarczyk's account, "We did not provoke anyone, we did not attack anyone." But she reported that she and her team were pushed and attacked by protesters. Jarczyk said protesters stole their recording equipment and kept covering the "eye of the camera" as they tried to cover events.

After the October protests, in a radio interview, Lempart addressed Catholics for whom abortion is forbidden:

Dear Catholics, you have a chance right now to oppose your Church. Right now you are participating in what is happening in the disgusting things done by the Church. And it's your last warning, because it's you who should rebel, your community, you, active in the life of the Church.

During that month, Catholic churches were vandalized and Holy Masses were interrupted. When asked if the interruptions were necessary, the activist said: "Of course, that's needed. You should do that which you feel, which you judge is effective, and that which they deserve."

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