Polish women, joined by many men, have gathered again in cities across the country to protest against a proposal to ban abortions in cases where foetuses are badly damaged or have no chance of survival after birth.

We also called for better sex education and easier access to birth control while also demanding that the influential Roman Catholic church end its “interference” in political life and public education. All the demands were laid out in a petition that a steady stream of people lined up to sign.

Most of us wore black, a symbol of mourning for the feared loss of reproductive rights.