Clad in black, Polish women refused to go to work to protest a proposed abortion ban

by Hanna Kozlowska

''For one full day in October 1975, 90% of Icelandic women refused to work—and that included cooking, cleaning, and looking after children—to protest gender discrimination. The protest was a remarkable success, becoming a turning point in how women were viewed in the country.More than four decades later, thousands of Polish women, inspired by the Icelandic “Women’s Day Off,” did not show up for work on Oct. 3 to protest an extremely restrictive anti-abortion law currently under review by the Polish parliament.

The proposed legislation would completely ban abortion, under the threat of criminal prosecution for all parties involved, including the woman who got the procedure and the doctor who carried it out. The law is so onerous that, as some critics have pointed out, it could lead to authorities investigating women who have had miscarriages for being in violation of the law; in early stages of pregnancy, the symptoms of miscarriages are virtually indistinguishable from those of an abortion...''