Poland's near-total abortion ban offers a grim glimpse of a possible US future
KRAKOW, Poland — Reproductive rights activists in Poland, where abortion laws are among Europe's strictest, have a stark message for their American counterparts: It's going to be a long struggle. And some people are going to die unnecessarily.
In this predominantly Roman Catholic country on Europe's eastern edge, where a hard-right ruling party holds sway, legal prohibitions on abortion are strikingly similar to those in U.S. states that have embraced the Supreme Court's dramatic unraveling of half a century of American abortion rights.
That hasn't always been the case in Poland. Decades ago, especially in the 1970s, when much of Europe had stricter abortion laws, the procedure's availability made this nation a destination for those seeking to end unwanted pregnancies.
After the country in the 1990s, however, an intense campaign by religious authorities — Pope John Paul II was born 30 miles from this southern city of cathedrals,
