#abortion in Poland

[mar-ginalia]

Sure, torture us some more, why not? It's not like we have the second most restrictive abortion law in the EU (after Malta). How I wish these fucking Catholic fundamentalists would just find a new hobby.

[trzpiotka]

another pregnant woman died in poland because the doctors waited for the fetus to die on its own while ignoring her sepsis symptoms (there was NO CHANCE of the fetus surviving, but they didn’t want to get charged with performing an illegal abortion). but yeah women around here don’t have many kids cause they just... uuuh *checks notes* party all the time 

[reasonsforhope]

"Previously, abortion was only possible in the case of a pregnancy that was the result of rape or incest or in a situation of extreme danger to a pregnant woman's health.

The Polish government has announced new guidelines aimed at facilitating safe access to abortion, reaffirming the legality of the highly divisive procedure.

Under the current law, abortions for health reasons are permitted but the previous conservative government limited some other qualifying circumstances.

That led to mass street protests and heightened the reluctance of doctors to expose themselves to possible prosecution.

The current government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to liberalize the law to allow abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, but that proposal narrowly failed to gather the necessary support in parliament.

"We are looking for such ways of acting, in accordance with the law, that will allow access to legal abortion for women who, for various reasons, should have the right to this abortion," Tusk said.

The guidelines published on Friday by the Health Ministry say that a recommendation by one specialist doctor, including a cardiologist, endocrinologist or psychiatrist, is basis enough for a woman to obtain a legal abortion in hospital, and the doctor performing the procedure should not be liable for prosecution.

Previously, abortion was only possible in the case of a pregnancy that was the result of sexual abuse or in a situation of extreme danger to a pregnant woman's health.

Those strict regulations led to a number of deaths across the country after doctors refused to perform an abortion for fear of being punished with imprisonment...

"A pregnant woman turning to a medical entity that has a contract with the National Health Fund with a medical referral that the pregnancy is a threat to her health, must receive the medical service of abortion in this entity," she said.

Hospitals that refuse to perform an abortion on a woman with a medical referral, could be fined up to 500,000 zlotys (around €115,000) or lose their National Health Fund contract."

-via EuroNews, August 31, 2024

[brzaski]

on March 14th 2023, a Polish abortion activist Justyna Wydrzyńska was sentenced to eight months of community service for helping a woman in an abusive relationship access abortion pills

Poland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.

if you can, please consider donating to ADT, the organisation that helps people in Poland access abortion!

edit: i see this post got reblogged into the terf teritory. ADT is trans friendly. please just donate and be quiet <3

[srebrnafh]

Today and tomorrow our Parliament is discussing reproductive rights.

Currently, in Poland, abortion is legally banned, except for a tiny number of cases (risk to woman's life, and criminal origin) and even then, this is questioned, delayed, ignored.

There are now four drafted legal changes on the table:

centrist-right - go back to what used to be called "abortion compromise" which adds to the above, also the fetal health reason (so, if the fetus is terminally malformed, the pregnancy could be terminated; currently THIS IS NOT ALLOWED)

centrist-leftish-somewhat & left-wing - two versions that cover legal, no-reason-needed abortion up to week 12 with certain other reasons for later stages (eg. diagnosed fetal abnormality); these two have huge overlap, with leftist being more liberal in certain aspects

left-wing additional proposal of decriminalisation of help (eg selling abortion pills, providing money for termination abroad etc); which currently is penalised with 3 years of prison, absolute.

And there are also the right-wing fucks who right now spew their "tiny hands" and "beating hearts" and "killing babies" and all this crap. Good thing we have a strict time limit in these cases, or they would drown us in murderous sacharine.

We've marched, and we've screamed and we've voted the cretins out. Now we have a chance to get abortion rights voted into law.

Keep your fingers crossed for Polish women.

[rapeculturerealities]

Abortion Drug Testing Is the Latest Weapon in the War Against Reproductive Freedom | The Mary Sue

In Poland, scientists have reportedly created tests that can detect whether people have taken a form of abortion pills. These tests are focused on two specific drugs, mifepristone, and misoprostol, which are both typically used in medicated abortions. The Polish government funded this research as part of its efforts to end legal abortion. According to the New York Times, Polish authorities are already starting to use these kinds of tests to investigate women’s pregnancies and miscarriages.

[lottieurl]

identity politics are truly making people say the dumbest shit

[no-passaran]

The baby was already dead when the pregnant woman got to the hospital, but the doctors didn't help her because they were afraid that they would be jailed for providing an abortion. They didn't give this vital healthcare, so the woman died. It's not the first time it happens and it won't be the last as long as abortion is illegal.

(...) A strict anti-abortion law is still in force in Poland, which has already led to the death of several pregnant women. For example, Dorota’s fate is reminiscent of the story of thirty-year-old Izabela, who also died of sepsis after the loss of amniotic fluid. Then, the doctors were waiting for labor to start on its own, or for the baby in Izabela’s body to die.

They were afraid that otherwise they would violate the new abortion ban. It forbids abortion under any circumstances. Only a few exceptions are allowed – in addition to rape and incest, is the threat to the mother’s life. However, the interpretation of the law was initially unclear, and doctors face up to three years in prison for violating it. Although Izabela had a legal right to an abortion, they preferred not to perform it at the hospital.

[cricketcat9]

War on women

in Poland continues. From Polish newspaper “Wyborcza”:

“The case of Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist of the Abortion Dream Team, reminds us of what it means to maintain this power*** after the elections. The case of Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist of the Abortion Dream Team, reminds us of what it means to maintain this power after the elections. She was found guilty today and convicted of helping another woman get an abortion.”

“The former partner of Anna, one of the women Justyna Wydrzynska helped three years ago (she gave her her own abortion pills), reported everything to the police. Abortion assistance is punishable by up to three years in prison. The court considered further evidence brought by the prosecutor's office and the ultra-Catholic organization Ordo Iuris, which acts as a social party in the trial (represents the interests of the unborn fetus).

Sentence: eight months of restriction of freedom through community service. The activist is to work unpaid for 30 hours a month. Her work is to be controlled. Justyna Wydrzyńska must also bear the costs of the trial”.

She will appeal, and said that she does not regret her action.

*** This power is the current ruling party PiS, racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, bigoted, corrupted and Catholic Church’s ass-kissing bunch.

[wernerherzogs]

klauny pierdolone

[profeminist]

(March 15th): "A Polish woman has been sentenced to eight months of community service for illegally helping another woman to have an abortion.

Abortion has been almost completely banned in Poland and Justyna Wydrzynska is thought to be the first activist to be tried for aiding a pregnant woman.

Providing help can now fetch up to three years in prison in Poland.

The woman Ms Wydrzynska sent the pills to did not end up having an abortion.

UN officials, gynaecologists and human rights groups had all appealed for the case to be dropped.

Ms Wydrzynska, who will appeal against the verdict, told the court she had sent a package of abortion pills to the pregnant woman when she found out that she was in an abusive relationship."

Read the full piece here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64950505

U.S. readers, register to vote here

In the UK (from BPAS):

[directactionforhope]

“Justyna Wydrzyńska’s own abortion experience, with no support or access to reliable information, gave her the strength and motivation to help others make informed decisions about their reproductive lives. Justyna co-founded Abortion Dream Team, an activist collective campaigning against abortion stigma and offering advice on accessing safe abortion in Poland, where abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe.”

Action Type: Petition

Source Organization or Activist: Amnesty International

Where: Poland

In person or virtual: Virtual

--

Verified link from Amnesty International. Thanks to @laurenfoxmakesthings for submitting.

[homosexuhauls]

By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

June 14, 2023

WARSAW, June 14 (Reuters) - Abortion rights supporters marched through several cities in Poland on Wednesday after the death of a pregnant woman whose family believe she could have survived if she had been offered a termination.

Protesters chanted "stop killing us" as they marched through the capital Warsaw towards the health ministry headquarters, some carrying placards that said "We want doctors, not missionaries" and "Hell for women," a common slogan used to convey how the measure affects those who are carrying an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy.

Poland's anti-abortion laws, among the strictest in Europe, have provoked mass protests in recent years and the death of the 33-year-old named as Dorota in May has stoked anti-government sentiment among many liberal Poles ahead of elections due in October or November.

In 2021, the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki put into effect a constitutional court decision banning terminations of pregnancies with foetal defects, as conservative policies increasingly take root in one of Europe's most devout Catholic countries.

Abortion rights activists have said that there were at least five cases of pregnant women dying whose families came out to the media, blaming the restrictions on abortion for their deaths.

Last month, Dorota died of septic shock in a hospital after her water broke in the 20th week of pregnancy. Her husband said nobody informed them of the option to induce a miscarriage, even though the child had very low chances of survival.

In 2021, a 30-year-old woman in the 22nd week of pregnancy, named Izabela, also died of septic shock after doctors waited for her unborn baby's heart to stop beating.

"We've had enough ... we protested when we found out about the death of Izabela almost two years ago and at the time we shouted 'not one more,'" Agnieszka Czerederecka, a founder of the Women's Strike movement in Warsaw, told Reuters. She added that there were protests in around 80 cities.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party leader said that by law women could have abortions if there was any threat to their life or health.

"There is no such issue. It's been made up," he said in response to journalists' questions on Wednesday, accusing critics of the policy of "propaganda" and creating an "imaginary reality."

However, critics say that since the Constitutional Tribunal ruling, doctors have been more reluctant to perform terminations even in such cases.

A poll by IBRiS for private Radio Zet showed this week over 70% of Poles believe the strict abortion rules constitute a potential threat to women's life and health.

"I hope the law will change and I will not be afraid to get pregnant in Poland," said Joanna Jędrasiak, 36, an economist.

"I would like to have children very much, and to experience pregnancy, give birth to a healthy child, without the kind of problems that a few women have had and whom we commemorate here today."

Reporting by Karol Badohal, Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Aurora Ellis

[thoughtlessarse]

Women in Poland face severe human rights violations due to the country’s restrictive abortion law, found the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in an inquiry report published yesterday. The committee noted that the situation of women in Poland was further aggravated after a constitutional court ruling rendered abortion in cases of significant foetal deformities illegal. “The situation in Poland constitutes gender-based violence against women and may rise to the level of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” said CEDAW deputy chair Genoveva Tisheva, as quoted in a statement from the committee. The committee’s report follows a three-year inquiry into allegations made by NGOs focused on women’s rights that “Poland has committed grave and systematic violations of rights” by restricting access to abortion.

continue reading

[srebrnafh]

Last week before election.

In Poland.

Guys.

Fingers crossed, good vibes, even thoughts and prayers. I'm not a person of faith, but hell, I'll take thoughts and prayers at this stage. Please please please someone make these stinking bastards LOSE. Just fucking LOSE.

They took over the constitutional tribunal and did the "oups that's not constitutional anymore" to our abortion rights (more or less what happened to Roe...). They managed to put their own bought corrupt stinky judges into way too many courts. They are forcing fucked up "patriotic" curriculum on the kids. They messed up the school system FOR MY SON when he was just in the middle of his education. They are endangering pregnant women by criminalising even miscarriage (a woman who miscarried reported that police checking out the sewers coming from her house...) They are keeping refugees on the border, not allowing them even to petition for protection, throwing people into the woods in autumn and winter, kids, pregnant women...

(I know these things are not equal, but they just fuck up so much at the same time I can't even summarise it properly...!)

I just want them to GO. GO AWAY, stop ruining my country. I am not a very patriotic person, I'm not 100% of one nationality or other, half of my family is from all around the bloody continent, from Carrara to Mariupol. But I live in Poland and I'm just.

So.

Tired.

Of.

Them.

...we need to vote them the fuck out of the office...

[rapeculturerealities]

Exposing the Dangers of Predatory Abortion Studies

Sometimes, I read a medical article and think, “Wow, what a waste of time and resources.” Usually, this is because the hypothesis is bizarre, the study design is tragic, or the bias is so massive it’s unbelievable. But this week, the New York Times brought to light two “What the Fuck” articles (in a great piece written by Patrick Adams). The big WTF here is both articles describe the methodology to forensically identify medications used for abortion, meaning they are blueprints for tests to identify people who might be of interest to law enforcement because they took either mifepristone or misoprostol. Both studies are from researchers in Poland, and the New York Times reported, “The studies were conducted as part of a state-funded research project started in 2022.”