Polish doctors jailed for denying woman abortion

March 3, 2026

Warsaw (AFP) – A Polish court on Tuesday sentenced three doctors to prison sentences over the 2021 death of a pregnant woman, which sparked nationwide protests and renewed scrutiny of the country's restrictive abortion laws.

The woman, Izabela, whose last name has not been made public, died of sepsis in 2021 while experiencing complications in the 22nd week of pregnancy. Her death came a year after a law toughening abortion restrictions in the mainly Catholic country came into effect and reignited mass protests.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260303-polish-doctors-jailed-for-denying-woman-abortion


State-Enabled Intimidation: How Anti-Abortion Extremism Is Undermining Legal Healthcare in Poland

12.02.2026
ASTRA Network

Poland is experiencing a coordinated and escalating campaign of anti-abortion intimidation and disinformation that directly undermines women’s access to lawful healthcare. This campaign is driven by fundamentalist actors and increasingly reinforced by political figures and state institutions that legitimize and amplify these practices. Together, these dynamics create a climate in which legally guaranteed medical services are systematically obstructed through fear, harassment, and institutional pressure.

Abortion Access in Poland: Law and Reality
Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion legislations in Europe. Following politically captured rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal, abortion is now effectively permitted only when a pregnancy poses a threat to a woman’s life or health, or when it results from a criminal act.

Continued: https://astra.org.pl/state-enabled-intimidation-how-anti-abortion-extremism-is-undermining-legal-healthcare-in-poland/


USA – A Pregnant Woman at Risk of Heart Failure Couldn’t Get Urgent Treatment. She Died Waiting for an Abortion.

In North Carolina, a state that had legislated its commitment to life, Ciji Graham spent her final days struggling to find anyone to save hers.

by Lizzie Presser and Kavitha Surana
January 14, 2026

When Ciji Graham visited a cardiologist on Nov. 14, 2023, her heart was pounding at 192 beats per minute, a rate healthy people her age usually reach during the peak of a sprint. She was having another episode of atrial fibrillation, a rapid, irregular heartbeat. The 34-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina, police officer was at risk of a stroke or heart failure.

In the past, doctors had always been able to shock Graham’s heart back into rhythm with a procedure called a cardioversion. But this time, the treatment was just out of reach. After a pregnancy test came back positive, the cardiologist didn’t offer to shock her. Graham texted her friend from the appointment: “Said she can’t cardiovert being pregnant.”

Continued: https://www.propublica.org/article/north-carolina-abortion-laws-ciji-graham


USA – This Confusing Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Oversight of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

New Jersey’s broad subpoena against an anti-abortion chain has made for some strange bedfellows.

Nina Martin,  Mother Jones
Dec 1, 2025

Even if you have no idea what a crisis pregnancy center is, the donor website for the First Choice Women’s Resource Centers chain in northeastern New Jersey offers plenty of clues: Prominent logos for the anti-abortion groups Heartbeat International and CareNet. A home page banner proclaiming “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 2026.” An agreement for prospective volunteers that states, “I openly acknowledge my personal faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” and “[I] reject abortion as an acceptable option for any woman.”

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/this-confusing-supreme-court-case-could-reshape-oversight-of-crisis-pregnancy-centers/


Prince Albert of Monaco blocks abortion legalisation in rare constitutional move

The legislation also sought to lower the minimum age for parental consent from 18 to 15 years

By Dorothy Reddin
25/11/2025

Prince Albert of Monaco has exercised his constitutional authority to prevent abortion legislation from becoming law, despite overwhelming parliamentary support.

The 67-year-old sovereign has refused to grant his signature to a bill that secured passage through the National Council by a margin of 19 votes to two.

Continued: https://www.gbnews.com/royal/prince-albert-monaco-blocks-abortion-legalisation


Polish police detain father, son over acid attacks on Warsaw abortion clinic

24.11.2025
Polskie Radio

Polish police have detained a father and his 18-year-old son suspected of hurling butyric acid at the country's only abortion clinic in Warsaw in the fourth such attack since March, the first arrests in a months-long campaign of harassment.

News website Gazeta.pl reported that on Friday, Nov. 14, butyric acid was poured for the fourth time outside the Abotak clinic on Wiejska Street, forcing a response by firefighters and a specialist clean-up crew.

Continued; https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7789/Artykul/3611825,polish-police-detain-father-son-over-acid-attacks-on-warsaw-abortion-clinic


Ethiopia’s Fight Against Anti-Abortion Propaganda

How Ethiopians are resisting U.S.-backed disinformation on abortions.

By Maya Misikir, a reporter and editor based in Ethiopia.
November 13, 2025

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—It’s the faces of the women and girls receiving treatment for botched abortions that still haunt nurse Hanna, 47 years into her nursing career.

“They had a look in their eyes. It was a plea to be saved from their misery,” she said in Amharic, during an interview last month.

Continued: https://archive.is/RQ7rE
(https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/13/ethiopia-abortion-fight-propaganda-america-trump-pro-life/)


Australia – Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie rebuked for ‘playing politics’ on abortion in debate on stillbirth leave

Experts warn the fearmongering about late-term terminations is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook

Tory Shepherd, Krishani Dhanji and Josh Butler
Thu 30 Oct 2025

A group of Coalition parliamentarians, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie, have seized on a proposed new law to give paid parental leave to parents of a child who is stillborn or dies, arguing it should not be available to anyone needing a late-term abortion.

A senior doctor has labelled the comments as “terrible, cynical, awful” things to say about an often heartbreaking decision, as experts point out that the vast majority of later terminations are forced by major health issues and warn fearmongering about the issue is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/30/abortion-stillbirth-leave-barnaby-joyce-andrew-hastie-playing-politics


The Long Shadow of Dr. George Tiller: Abortion Providers Under Attack

9/17/2025
by Jodi Enda, Ms. Magazine.

Julie Burkhart’s clinic was torched.

Burkhart, like Ruth Richardson, has been working in abortion facilities for years. And, like Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, she is no stranger to threats or violence. In 1991, Burkhart was a young clinic worker in Wichita, Kan., when abortion opponents poured into town to participate in the so-called Summer of Mercy, a six-week protest organized by Operation Rescue (slogan: “If you believe abortion is murder, then act like it’s murder!”). They conducted blockades at the city’s three abortion clinics and threw themselves in front of cars to keep drivers from entering the clinics’ parking lots.

In 2009, Burkhart’s mentor, Dr. George Tiller, was shot in the head and killed as he was ushering at his Wichita church. The murder came 16 years after Tiller, one of the few doctors in the nation who performed abortions later in pregnancy, was shot in both arms by an extremist, and 23 years after his clinic was bombed.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/09/17/george-tiller-abortion-providers-attack/


AUSTRALIA – Upper House MP Sarah Game launches new push to change SA abortion laws

Exclusive by Kathryn Bermingham
Thursday 4 September

A renewed push to place new restrictions on abortion access in South Australia is set to be introduced to parliament, less than a year after the last debate over the state's pregnancy termination laws.

Upper House MP Sarah Game, an independent formerly of One Nation, will introduce a bill to place new limits on abortions after 23 weeks.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-05/sarah-game-introduces-new-abortion-bill-amendments/105734080