‘We will not agree to the torture or women’, said one of the Polish women who protested an anti-abortion church sermon.

A group of women (and lots of supportive men) staged a protest at a Roman Catholic Church in Gdansk, Poland.

They were opposing the Roman Catholic Church’s campaign for a complete ban on abortion in Poland – if the campaign were to succeed even victims of rape who fell pregnant would not be able to legally terminate a pregnancy.

The anti-abortion plan is supported by the country’s Prime Minister – but these women have had enough.

‘We will not agree to raped teenage women being forced to give birth,’ the woman added.

As well as the church walk-out, thousands of pro-choice activists gathered in Warsaw to protest against the possible ban.

Crowds could be heard chanting: ‘Dignity, health, security’, in unison.

Currently, Poland has some of the strictest abortions laws in Europe. Termination is illegal aside for a few clauses, such as pregnancies after (criminally proven) rape or incest, when the foetus is malformed or the woman’s life is in danger.

An outright ban would eradicate those exceptions and force women into motherhood no matter the circumstance.

In 2015 right-wing party Law and Justice came to power in Poland – they promised a return to conservative and Catholic values.

There are real fears that if abortion is criminalised, desperate women and girls could turn to DIY or backstreet abortions – extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal procedures.

Protesters even carried coat hangers as a brutal symbol of the lengths women will have to go to terminate pregnancies should the legislation be passed.