A woman convicted in Poland for aiding abortion says she did what was right

NPR | By Ari Shapiro, Matt Ozug, Karen Zamora
Published March 17, 2023
Podcast interview - 5:25 mins

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Poland's abortion laws are some of the most restrictive in Europe. Abortion is almost entirely illegal. Helping someone end a pregnancy can lead to jail time. One year ago, we first heard from an activist in Poland - the first woman to face criminal charges under Polish abortion law for helping a woman in an abusive relationship obtain abortion pills.

JUSTYNA WYDRZYNSKA: She was begging us, please help me somehow.

SHAPIRO: Well, this week, Justyna Wydrzynska received her sentence. A judge in Warsaw gave her eight months of community service. And she joins us now. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

WYDRZYNSKA: Thank you. Thank you for invitation.

Continued: https://www.vpm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-03-17/a-woman-convicted-in-poland-for-aiding-abortion-says-she-did-what-was-right

17.03.2023

Interviews/Podcasts

Abortion Dream Team

Abortion Without Borders

Polish activist found guilty in abortion case to appeal sentence

Justyna Wydrzynska was convicted on Tuesday, three years after providing a woman with abortion pills.

By Gouri Sharma
Published On 15 Mar 2023

A Polish activist found guilty of facilitating an abortion has told Al Jazeera that she plans to appeal her sentence in a case that is testing the nation’s strict abortion laws.

On Tuesday, a court in the capital, Warsaw, convicted Justyna Wydrzynska three years after she sent the pills to a woman who was reportedly in an abusive relationship. Alongside eight months of community service, she was handed a fine, and will now have a criminal record.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/polish-activist-found-guilty-in-abortion-case-to-appeal-sentence

15.03.2023

News

Abortion Dream Team

International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network

Polish court convicts activist for helping woman get abortion pills

Justyna Wydrzynska sentenced to community service after telling court she sent pills to victim of domestic violence

Weronika Strzyżyńska and agencies in Warsaw
Tue 14 Mar 2023

A court in Poland has convicted an activist for helping a pregnant woman access abortion pills, sentencing her to eight months of community service in a landmark case over abortion rights in the predominantly Catholic country.

“I do not feel that I am facing the court alone,” said Justyna Wydrzynska at the hearing on Tuesday. “Behind me are my friends and hundreds of women I have not had the luck to meet yet.”

Continued : https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/14/polish-court-convicts-activist-for-helping-woman-get-abortion-pills

Polish parliament rejects law banning “promotion of abortion”

MAR 8, 2023
Notes from Poland

Parliament has rejected a bill that would have introduced jail terms for “publicly promoting or calling for abortion” or providing information about how women can obtain abortions in Poland or abroad.

While the legislation – which was submitted to parliament as a so-called citizen’s legislative initiative supported by public signatures – was rejected by a large majority of MPs, over half of members of the conservative ruling coalition’s caucus voted either to allow it to proceed or abstained from voting.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/03/08/polish-parliament-rejects-law-banning-promotion-of-abortion/

08.03.2023

News

Abortion is Murder bill

citizen’s legislative initiative

Jarosław Kaczyński

Kaja Godek

Law and Justice party

Life and Family Foundation

Polish parliament rejects controversial abortion bill before elections

By Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl
Mar 7, 2023

Parliament rejected a controversial bill that aims to further restrict one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe on Tuesday, with some conservative members of the ruling PiS saying off the record that they did not want the bill to cause a new wave of street protests ahead of the upcoming elections.

The controversial “Abortion is murder” bill was submitted to parliament by popular anti-abortion activist Kaja Godek and her “Life and Family” foundation, aiming to sanction those publicly promoting abortion in Poland and abroad, as well as those advising and distributing materials on the topic of abortion.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/polish-parliament-rejects-controversial-abortion-bill-before-elections/

07.03.2023

News

anti-choice legislation

Outcry in Poland over abortion law

Two Polish hospitals refused to terminate the pregnancy of an underage rape victim. The case has sparked controversy over the country's restrictive legislation, with women's rights activists insisting it must be eased.

Jacek Lepiarz
February 5, 2023

A scandal is raging in Polish politics and in the media, concering the shocking case of a 14-year-old rape victim. The girl, who is from the Podlaskie region in northeastern Poland and has mental disabilities, was raped by her own uncle and became pregnant as a result. She was unaware of her condition, but her aunt noticed it and tried to help her get an abortion.

Although the girl had written confirmation from the public prosecutor that she was pregnant as the result of a crime, which gave her the right to a legal abortion, two hospitals in the region refused to carry out the procedure. The province of Podlaskie on the Belarusian border is a bastion of the right-wing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has been in power in Poland since 2015.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-outcry-over-abortion-law/a-64586531

Polish health minister ‘appalled’ girl, 14, struggled to get abortion after rape

Doctors at several hospitals cited a conscience clause to avoid treating the teenager who has a mental disability

Agence France-Presse in Warsaw
Mon 30 Jan 2023

Poland’s health minister has weighed in on a high-profile rape case, saying it was “unacceptable” that a mentally disabled 14-year-old girl struggled to get a legal abortion.

The case, in which doctors at several hospitals used a conscience clause to avoid carrying out the procedure, has sparked renewed calls to ease the Catholic country’s abortion laws, which are among Europe’s most stringent.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/polish-health-minister-appalled-girl-14-struggled-to-get-abortion-after

Disabled 14-year-old rape victim refused abortion in Poland by hospitals in her province

JAN 25, 2023
Notes from Poland

A 14-year-old disabled girl who became pregnant as a result of rape was refused an abortion by hospitals in her province, forcing her to travel across the country to the capital, Warsaw, to obtain a termination.

While doctors in Poland are allowed to refuse to perform an abortion under a so-called “conscience clause”, hospitals are required to inform patients where they can obtain a legal termination. In this case it appears that did not happen.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/01/25/disabled-14-year-old-rape-victim-refused-abortion-in-poland-by-hospitals-in-her-province/

Poland: Prosecuting activist accused of aiding abortion ‘sets a dangerous precedent’

January 10, 2023
Amnesty International

Charges against an activist facing up to three years in prison accused of helping a pregnant woman access abortion pills in Poland must be dropped, said Amnesty International today ahead of the resumption of her trial in Warsaw tomorrow.

In November 2021, the prosecutor charged human rights defender Justyna Wydrzyńska with “helping with an abortion” and “possession of medicines without authorization for the purpose of introducing them into the market”.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/poland-prosecuting-activist-accused-of-aiding-abortion-sets-a-dangerous-precedent/

10.01.2023

Featured

News

Amnesty International

Poland – Denying Access to Abortion Is Femicide

In Poland, a country held ransom by religious fanatics, people don’t want to see more women suffer from denied abortion care.

1/6/2023
by IRENE DONADIO and MARTA LEMPART

It has been just over two years since the imposition of a near-total ban on abortion across Poland. The ban removed almost all conditions in which a woman can access abortion care, leaving millions of women in the dark when it comes to deciding what happens to their bodies.

For some women, continuing to carry their pregnancies is the most dangerous thing they can do. Even though Poland’s rigid laws state that abortion can be performed to save women’s health or life, many doctors refuse to give them to women who desperately need them.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/01/06/poland-abortion-ban-women-death-dying/