The death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman from pregnancy-related complications led Poles to the streets in several cities to protest against the strong restrictions on abortion introduced a year ago in the country.
According to activists, she is the first woman to die as a result of the new legislation. The family’s lawyer says the doctors waited for the fetus’ heart to stop beating before treating her, and the patient ended up with septic shock, according to the BBC British network and the Associated Press news agency.
The victim was in her 22nd week of pregnancy and left her husband and a daughter.
In Warsaw, hundreds of people held a candlelit vigil in front of the Constitutional Court, which in October 2020 prohibited termination of pregnancy in the case of fetuses with congenital malformations.
Equivalent to the Federal Supreme Court in Brazil, the court had 11 of its 12 judges appointed by the ruling party, the conservative Lei e Justiça (PiS). In addition, the president of the court, Julia Przylebska, is part of the inner circle of the country’s strongman, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Even before the decision, the country already had one of the most restrictive legislation on the subject of the European Union. With the new rule, abortion is allowed in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger, which represents only 2.4% of the 1,100 legal abortions performed in Poland in 2019.
In January, when the measure took effect, tens of thousands of people protested in at least 35 cities across the predominantly Catholic country. The death that rekindled the acts took place in Pszczyna in September but was brought to light this week by Jolanta Budzowska, a lawyer representing the family.
According to her, afraid of being punished by the courts, the doctors waited too long.
From the hospital, the woman reportedly sent messages to family and friends saying that doctors detected lack of amniotic fluid and problems with the baby, but did not terminate the pregnancy immediately due to legal restrictions. She said, according to reports, that her fever was rising and that she feared she would die of septic shock—which it turned out to be.
According to experts interviewed by the BBC, in theory termination of pregnancy in this case would still be allowed because there was a risk to the patient’s life, but many doctors are not fully aware of the new restriction and may make a wrong judgment at the time of care.
In a statement cited by the British vehicle, the hospital said that the team did everything possible to save the patient’s life and that the decisions were taken taking into account the risks to the mother and fetus.
Since coming to power in Poland in 2015, PiS has intensified the discourse for family and Catholic morals, attacked LGBTQIA+ movements and increased control over the press and justice.
Previous abortion legislation was passed by the majority of the population, and attempts to toughen it have sparked protests in several Polish cities on more than one occasion in the past.
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