Protesters are planning to converge on Warsaw from across Poland on Friday evening for what police said would likely be the biggest demonstrations yet against a court ruling that amounted to a near-total ban on abortion.

 Tens of thousands of activists have mounted daily rallies, marching through cities and disrupting church services in the predominantly Catholic country since last week’s Constitutional Court decision.

“We expect these to be the biggest protests since the verdict,” Warsaw police spokesman Sylwester Marczak said. “Considering how big they can be, we always use the support of the police from other garrisons.”

Protest group Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) said on its Facebook page that demonstrators would gather in three locations in the city centre at 1600 GMT.

The movement’s leader Marta Lempart told activists to report any attacks and to resist any attempt to prosecute or fine them for taking part. “We are doing nothing wrong by protesting and going out on the streets,” she told a news conference.

Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said this week the mass gatherings could cause more coronavirus infections and authorities have said they were planning to prosecute protest organizers on public health grounds.

Demonstrations have turned into an outpouring of anger against the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, with protesters blaming it and the powerful Roman Catholic Church for the ruling./Reuters

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