Abortion rights protests planned across Poland after death of pregnant woman

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Women’s rights advocates have called for protests in dozens of Polish cities after a woman in her fifth month of pregnancy died of sepsis. It was the latest such death since a tightening of Poland’s abortion law more than two years ago. The protests demanding a liberalization of the abortion law are to take place in Warsaw and nearly 50 other cities later Wednesday. The activists say doctors are putting women’s lives at risk as they prioritize saving fetuses over women, either for ideological reasons or fearing legal consequences for themselves. Conservative politicians and anti-abortion groups accuse them of exploiting cases like the one of the woman who died for political gain.