The price of choice - the fight over abortion in Poland | photo essay

After a court ruling in Poland imposed a near-total ban on abortions, police used pepper spray against those protesting against the changes.

Polish photojournalist Kasia Strek, based between Paris and Warsaw, has covered the past few years of debate, protest and activism over Poland's restrictive abortion laws as part of a wider project on abortion around the world

Poland, where the Catholic church remains hugely powerful, and rightwing social conservatives are in power, has some of the most restrictive abortion legislation in Europe, but one thing had seemed clear in recent years: attempts to tighten the rules even further were doomed to fail, due to public outrage.

In 2016, a huge grassroots movement led by women sprung up in cities across Poland, when the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party flirted with the idea of backing draconian proposals put forward by rightwing groups seeking criminal liability for women seeking abortions, and investigations into suspicious" miscarriages.