Poland's Dystopian Anti-Abortion Law Leads To Death And Nationwide Protests

Poland -

Poland's Dystopian Anti-Abortion Law Leads To Death And Nationwide Protests

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through several Polish cities and towns on November 6, holding banners reading 'not one more' after a woman, named Izabela, in her 22nd week of pregnancy died of septic shock. Human Rights defenders say it was the effect of the recent near-total ban on abortion.
 Izabela was the first woman to die as a result of the 2020 ruling.
In October 2020, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, with the support of the ruling pro-Catholic populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, imposed a near-total ban on the abortion law, which came into force in January in Poland. Before the new ruling, it was possible for women in Poland to have abortions in only three cases: if the pregnancy is lethal for the mother, or if it is the result of crimes such as rape or incest, or in the case of critical fetal defects.
The woman, known as Izabela, died in September, but her case became widley known until November. According to reports, she went to a hospital in Pszczyna in September after her water broke. Although scans had shown several severe defects in the fetus that endangered her life, doctors were legally forced from aborting the pregnancy. 
Women's Rights Activists said doctors in Poland now wait for a fetus with no chance of survival to die in the womb rather than carry out abortions.

Leave a comment

Back to News

Tags