Poland needs calm to discuss disputed abortion ruling - government

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators block a street during an anti-government protest following the ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, in Warsaw, Poland November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland needs a period of calm to discuss a ruling by the highest court that bans most abortions, a government spokesman said after the measure did not take effect on Monday as expected following two weeks of mass protests.

Widespread outrage among women and others greeted the Oct. 22 ruling which bans terminations due to foetal defects, ending one of the few legal grounds left for abortion in a staunchly Roman Catholic country with a deeply conservative government.