In Polish director Marta Górnicka’s revolutionary production, “The Chorus of Women,” twenty-five women appear on stage, whispering, singing, and yelling in haunting tones, “be beautiful,” “be quiet” — “be a woman.” The trilogy sees the choir scream and gasp against chants of the Bacchae and the gospels, and in one play, utter the hoarse, final words — “I’m calling out to you.”

Gornicka’s chorus is echoed on the streets of Warsaw today. Tens of thousands of women are in open revolt against Poland’s new abortion ban. Their slogan of choice, “Wypierdalać” translates to “get the fuck out of here.” “[N]ow we are mad, not just unhappy,” wrote feminist philosopher Ewa Majewska, echoing the protesters, “I am terrified;” “I feel unimportant.” Their signs read: “women’s hell.”

The context of abortion debates is more varied than they seem at first glance. Until recently, women were penalized for bearing more than one child in China, while in Ecuador, they continue to be imprisoned for choosing to abort. In India, Armenia, or Hong Kong, the practice of sex-selective abortion — the abortion of female fetuses — has often pit women’s right to choose against the rights of future women, so to speak.