14/06/2023 (Agence Europe) – Demonstrators in favour of abortion rights took to the streets of several Polish towns on Wednesday 14 June. The wave of protests follows the death of Dorota Lalik in May, when she was unable to have her pregnancy terminated quickly enough. Various MEPs voiced their support for Polish women at the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg. “The EU’s position is clear: there is no place in Europe for religious fanaticism, for which Polish women are paying with their lives”, said Robert Biedroń (S&D, Polish), chairman of the European Parliament’s Gender Equality Committee (FEMM), on Twitter. Earlier in the year, an activist was convicted in Poland for helping a woman access an abortion. A verdict denounced by a majority of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13143/22). (HS)