Why Polish women are protesting against new abortion laws?

Thousands of women are protesting against Poland’s new abortion laws in cities across the country.

Authorities began to use pepper spray to disperse crowds of more than a hundred protestors in Warsaw. So far, at least 15 demonstrators have been arrested, of whom 14 have been released

Protests were held in Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Krakow, among other cities

According to BBC, A court ruling on Thursday banned almost all abortions – with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or where the mother’s health is at risk.

Abortions carried out when the foetus is malformed, which accounted for 98% of legal terminations last year, have now been outlawed. Poland already had some of the EU’s strictest abortion laws.

The ruling means abortions will only be allowed in instances of rape, incest or if there is a threat to the woman’s life.

There are already fewer than 2,000 legal abortions a year in Poland, and the vast majority take place because of malformed foetuses.