WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Women’s rights activists in Poland are marking International Women’s Day caught between reasons to celebrate and with a sense of facing a long battle ahead. This year’s Women’s Day on Monday, which will involve protests in Warsaw and elsewhere, comes after a near-total ban on abortion took effect in January in the historically Roman Catholic country. That step had long been been sought by the conservative ruling party. Activists with the Polish Women’s Strike say they are convinced that the process of social change will ultimately favor their struggle for reproductive freedom. Some say it’s part of a larger assault on democracy in Poland.
