The pro-life march held on Sunday in the Polish capital of Warsaw attracted 50,000 participants who marched to express solidarity with the values of the sanctity of life and the importance of the family. The event was held in order to send a message to the new left-liberal government that any laws to liberalize abortion laws were opposed by millions of Poles.
The mass demonstration was backed by the Polish Episcopate of the Catholic Church, which made Sunday a day of prayer in defense of the unborn child.
The march was attended by whole families, with positive pro-life messages and an abundance of Poland’s white and red flags. The slogans on banners included “Long Live Poland,” “The right to a conscience,” and “Choose life.”
Pregnant mothers were invited on stage, with one of them agreeing for those gathered to hear the heartbeat of her unborn child in the sixth week of pregnancy. The audience also prayed for the beatification of a midwife who in Auschwitz dared to defy an abortion order.
Veteran pro-life supporter and former speaker of the Sejm, Marek Jurek, told those gathered that the pro-life movement must combat the argument that abortion is about freedom.
“In reality, ‘abortionism’ is a hideous ideology of exclusion,” he said.
Jurek also argued that what had happened in France was the legalization of killing and not an extension of freedom. Polish politicians, including the president, must speak in favor of life in Europe, he added.
On Friday, the Polish parliament decided that four separate bills proposing varying degrees of liberalization of abortion regulations will go to the committee stage, where the four measures will all be processed.
The ruling left-liberal coalition is divided over how far to go with legalizing abortion. The Left and Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) want abortion on-demand until the end of the 12th week of pregnancy, while the Left wants abortion depenalized.
Third Way wants to return to the abortion compromise that was in force until 2020, which allowed for abortions in the case of damage to the fetus, threat to a mother’s life or health, and when pregnancy was the result of a crime such as rape or incest.
