WARSAW, Poland — Women’s rights activists furious over a tightening of Poland’s already restrictive abortion law staged protests outside and inside churches Sunday, disrupting Masses and finding themselves confronted with accusations of “barbaric” behavior.

With the coronavirus surging in Poland, large protests also erupted for a fourth straight night in cities large and small across the nation, including in Warsaw, Gdansk and Poznan, where police on horseback guarded a church.

In the southern city of Katowice, tensions were high as a large presence of riot police separated protesters and about 30 people with the All-Polish Youth, a far-right ultranationalist group. Police used tear gas and scuffled with the women’s rights protesters after they began to push the police toward the anti-abortion group, the RMF FM broadcaster reported.

At the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, a group of far-right nationalists blocked stairs leading to the entrance. When one woman managed to push her way through, the nationalists grabbed her and forced her down the stairs.