Poland has seen demonstrations by many thousands of people after the ruling Law and Justice party disclosed it is to bring abortion law into line with Catholic Church teachings.

The party is supported by Poland's Catholic bishops who in a recent pastoral letter called for the law to be tightened up. The bishops said: "Catholics' position on this is clear, and unchangeable. One needs to protect every person's life from conception to natural death."

Poland's laws on abortion are among the strictest in Europe, in common with those of Malta and Ireland. They currently allow early-stage abortions when the pregnancy threatens the health of the mother, when the baby is threatened by handicap and when the pregnancy is the result of sex crimes such as rape.

Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the Law and Order Party and a practising Catholic, has said he will not force a vote for an outright ban on abortion. However he believed most of his party would back the change. Among those who have already expressed support is prime minister Beata Szydło. The party also intends to end funding for IVF and ban over-the-counter sales of the morning after pill.

 IB Times reported that more demonstrations are expected across Poland. One pressure group, Tak dla Kobiet, said people are "outraged" that the Catholic Church seems making a bid for influence.

In a statement the group said: "The current law, misleadingly called a compromise, was passed in the early nineties to gain political support from the Catholic Church. The new legislative project has full support from the Catholic Church, whose priests are obliged to read a special letter of support during mass tomorrow. Once again, women will be denied basic rights to their bodies, pushed to seek dangerous methods to terminate unwanted pregnancies."