A Polish court has upheld a decision by the Mayor of Toruń to stop an anti-abortion protest over the display of a picture of a foetus.
The organisers of the demonstration, a recurring event often held on the 15th of each month where Catholics gather to pray over issues such as abortion, claimed their constitutional rights of free speech had been violated.
The Toruń city Mayor Paweł Gulewski, an ally of Polish centre-left Prime Minister Donald Tusk, welcomed the court’s decision, saying that while he supported free speech, it must be expressed in a manner consistent with the law and without violating the dignity of others.
Held in Toruń’s Old Town Square, the event in February called “Public Rosary for the Moral Renewal of the Polish Nation”, included the display of a banner opposing abortion with a photograph of an 11-week foetus.
The campaigners have been aiming to stop any liberalisation of Poland’s highly restrictive abortion legislation which the present centre-left government wants to ease. At present, any such move would be blocked by opposition Conservative (PiS)-aligned Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as factions of the ruling coalition.
A city official had asked the group to take down the banner and when the organisers refused, the local authority ordered the gathering to be broken up.
“The decision to dissolve this assembly was dictated by concern for the standards of public space, which must guarantee every resident and visitor of the city a sense of security and comfort,” said Gulewski.
“There is no place for content that may be considered drastic, shocking or violating the sense of dignity of others,” he added.
In response, the organiser of the gathering, Agnieszka Szumilas-Hermanowicz, who in 2023 stood as a parliamentary candidate for the right-wing Confederation party, appealed the city’s decision in court
According to the Ordo Iuris conservative legal think-tank, which represented the organisers at the appeal: “The city’s Mayor dissolved a peaceful, legal public meeting because he did not like one of the banners that presented what abortion looks like”.
On March 14, Toruń’s district court rejected that appeal, ruling the Mayor’s decision had been valid under a law banning “indecent announcements, inscriptions, drawings or words in a public place”.
In his justification for the ruling, Judge Andrzej Westphal quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “We read in it that ‘the bodies of the deceased should be treated with respect and love stemming from faith and hope in the resurrection’,” he stated but did not explain why he deemed a photograph of an aborted foetus disrespectful.
The court’s decision was welcomed by Gulewski, who said he now “expects future assemblies to be organised in a manner consistent with social norms and applicable law, with respect for the rights of all citizens”.
“Toruń is a city open to dialogue and diversity of opinions, but freedom of assembly does not mean freedom in the manner of expressing one’s views,” added the Mayor.
“The relevant legal regulations clearly indicate that the presentation of indecent content is subject to restrictions.”
Szumilas-Hermanowicz declared the court’s decision to be “scandalous” and told public broadcaster TVP3 that her group was “being gagged”.
In a post on Facebook,, she said Toruń had “violated the Constitution, the law on public gatherings, freedom of speech and freedom of religion” and confirmed that her organisation would be appealing against the court decision.
