Death of pregnant woman ignites debate about abortion ban in Poland

FILE PHOTO: People take part in protests against the ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, in Warsaw, Poland, October 30, 2020. Dariusz Borowicz/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) - The death of a pregnant Polish woman has reignited debate over abortion in one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic countries, with activists saying she could still be alive if it were not for a near total ban on terminating pregnancies.

Tens of thousands of Poles took to the streets to protest in January this year when a Constitutional Tribunal ruling from October 2020 that terminating pregnancies with foetal defects was unconstitutional came into effect, eliminating the most frequently used case for legal abortion.