Thousands have protested for a third consecutive night in Warsaw on Friday and other parts of Poland after the country’s rightwing government implemented a court ruling imposing a near-total ban on abortion, AFP reported. Protesters have defied coronavirus restrictions and sub-zero temperatures to rally after the controversial judgment was given legal force on Wednesday.

Armed with red paint and defying coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of Poles rally in Warsaw on Thursday against a court decision imposing a near-total ban on abortion, AFP reported. Protesters also took to the streets in other cities in the second night of outrage after the Constitutional Court ruling came into effect on Wednesday.

A controversial Polish court ruling that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, which came into force on Wednesday, brought thousands into the streets, news wires reported.

A fresh demonstration against the attempt to tighten Poland's abortion law resulted in minor clashes with police, while officers used tear gas against protesters, dpa reported. Several thousand people protested on Wednesday evening amid high police presence in central Warsaw.

Poland reported a record number of new cases of Covid-19 infections on Saturday amid growing social tension, linked to a controversial court ruling. The country saw Covid-19 infected rise to 21,897 new cases, Reuters reported.

People across Poland are vowing to stay off their jobs on Wednesday as part of a nationwide strike to protest a top court ruling that bans abortions in cases of congenitally damaged fetuses, news wires reported. Polish media report that some university classes have been called off, while the mayors of Warsaw and Krakow are also supporting the call for workers to stay off their jobs.

Several hundred demonstrators protested in Warsaw into the early hours of Friday against the quasi-total ban on legal abortions imposed in Poland with a ruling of its Constitutional Tribunal, dpa reported. On Thursday, the court ruled that performing abortions due to foetal defects is illegal under the constitution. Foetal defects accounted for almost all legal abortions performed in the country last year.