The protest was organized by the All-Poland Women's Strike social movement, which was established in 2016 and has regularly held demonstrations in support of women's rights.
During Sunday's protests, the organizers of the demonstration commemorated the 39th anniversary of the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981 following widespread public unrest.
"On this day, we are pushing for freedom. The authorities have not yet learned that any form of oppression generates resistance," the organizers said in a statement.
Photos and videos from the protest have emerged online.
Protests against the new Abortion law in Warsaw!
— bdt (@listenertoyou) December 13, 2020
The women and children will suffer the most- especially the poorest .#Warszawa pic.twitter.com/aGCrEs4bq1
coraz bliżej nory prezesa prezesów, nora pusta, uciekł do puszczy ale Bastylia też była pusta, nora na Mickiewicza to symbol pic.twitter.com/qUDbMUxsSw
— Jarek Witkowski 📷😜🍏🐧⛺🚴♀️🚂🇵🇱🇪🇺☮😜 (@JarekWitkowski7) December 13, 2020
In total, thousands of people gathered near the Roman Dmowski monument in central Warsaw to take part in the demonstration. Protesters have also blocked several major thoroughfares in the Polish capital, despite orders from law enforcement officers not to do so.
Police have ordered the protesters to leave the area, although law enforcement officers have yet to forcibly disperse demonstrators.
Poland's constitutional court in late October issued a ruling saying that a law allowing abortion in the event of fetal defects was unconstitutional, tightening the European country's already strict abortion laws.
Following the ruling, women in Poland will only be able to legally terminate a pregnancy if they can demonstrate the fetus was conceived as a result of rape, or if the pregnancy poses a threat to the woman's life or long-term health.
