(Adnkronos) – Three doctors in Poland have been convicted for the death of a woman who died from pregnancy-related complications after they refrained from performing an abortion that could have saved her life. The case has sparked mass protests, as it is linked to the country’s abortion laws, among the strictest in Europe.
Today, the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza called the convictions “a milestone in the history of Polish women’s fight for their rights, which is the fight for human rights”. The Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) group told the Pap news agency that it was, to their knowledge, the first such sentence in Poland.
The incident took place in 2021 in the southern Polish town of Pszczyna, shortly after the tightening of abortion laws. A 30-year-old woman, pregnant with a fetus with serious abnormalities, was admitted to the local hospital in the 22nd week of pregnancy after her amniotic sac ruptured. Doctors waited for the fetus to die naturally, but the woman died of septic shock.
A court in Pszczyna stated that the doctors’ actions endangered the woman’s life and found them guilty of medical malpractice. One doctor was sentenced to 18 months in prison, another to 15 months. Both were banned from practicing medicine for six years.
Their supervisor received a one-year suspended sentence and a four-year professional ban. According to Pap, the verdict, issued yesterday, is not yet final.
Under the previous right-wing government, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled in 2020 that abortions were no longer permitted, even in cases of serious fetal abnormalities. Since then, legal abortions have only been allowed in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is in danger.
In 2024, the current centrist government attempted to liberalize abortion laws, but failed to pass even modest reforms such as repealing criminal penalties for aiding and abetting abortion.
Under current law, not only medical personnel but also partners, husbands, and family members can face legal consequences for helping someone have an abortion. In recent years, several women have died in circumstances similar to the Pszczyna case, sparking nationwide protests.
Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna stated during the trial that hospitals have clear guidelines for performing abortions when a woman’s life or health is at risk. The woman’s life must always come first, said the president of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, Piotr Sieroszewski. However, he criticized the persistent legal ambiguities in the Ministry’s regulations, calling for greater protection for doctors.
