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WARSAW, Poland, March 15, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of angry men brutally attacked several pro-life women during a feminist rally on March 10 in Warsaw. The women were holding a banner with a picture of a woman killed by a botched abortion.

The pro-lifers carried the controversial banner from the Warsaw-based Fundacja Pro, Poland's most visible pro-life organization. The banner depicted the body of 18-year-old Maria Cardamone, who was killed during an abortion in the United States.

A Polish news report on the attack interviewing one of the pro-life women at the scene included video of the incident, displaying some of the aggression. However, the bulk of the men's attacks against the women were not filmed but photographed.

Maria Piasecka Łopuszańska, from the organization Women for the Nation recalled what took place in an interview with the Polish Catholic news website Fronda:

We had the largest banner in the whole rally, it said STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN…People approached us and examined the banner. They commented that…the men present at the rally were not the kind who would beat or rape women. Then we tore off the surface of the banner to reveal the picture of a young women killed by legal abortion.

When the pro-life activists revealed the photos, organizers told them to leave the rally.

As they were beginning to leave, male pro-abortion protesters physically attacked them, pushing and kicking the women.

Kasia, a young pro-life woman, was beaten to the point of having to go for a forensic examination later.

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Maria said the police called to the scene refused to file a report, once they found that one of the attackers was employed by the Supreme Court:

As Kasia was giving the police her personal data, the man who attacked her just walked away. She was asking the police to stop him. Some reporter started filming the situation, but it happened so quickly that he didn't get to capture the moment when the police refused to file the report.

Feminists who witnessed the situation did not condemn the physical violence against women. Instead, they asked the media not to film the incident, recalled Maria.

“Nobody moved. Feminists looked on as they were beating us,” she said.

The victims of the attack are planning to seek legal action against the police officer who refused to file a report of the incident.

Fundacja Pro’s pro-life activism, including rallies, portrayal of graphic abortion photos, and legislative initiatives, have resulted in their being targeted by violence. Despite holding peaceful demonstrations, they have faced arrests and criminal proceedings.

Yet the organization has broad support. In only two weeks, they collected 600,000 signatures during an effort to end all abortions nationwide.

The following video, which appeared on Polish television, captures some of the harassment but not the violence against the women themselves. Footage begins at approximately one minute in.