Protests against abortion rights in Poland
The recent death of a pregnant woman in hospital has again brought people across Poland to the streets against the rigid abortion law.
Anger is also increasingly directed at doctors. The government wants to “clarify” the rules.
“Warsaw and other Polish cities”
“We want doctors, not missionaries,” said the protesters in Warsaw and other Polish cities. Increasingly, the anger is directed not only against politicians, but also against the doctors. They, so the accusation, would hesitate even when an abortion is still permissible and urgently required in Poland, namely if there is a risk to the life and limb of the mother.
The reason for this was the recent death of a 33-year-old in the hospital, who first lost her unborn child in her womb and then soon succumbed to blood poisoning herself. If an abort had been made, Dorota might still be alive, they say, like Justyna, Agnieska, Izabela or Ania before her.
“The abortion ban in Poland is killing, as we predicted from the start. Because the doctors are afraid, they don’t want to save the lives of the women, they fear for their careers,” says Monika Roza from the right-wing liberal Citizens’ Platform.
Morawiecki takes a stand
The tone is also getting rougher towards the doctors; Gynecologists in particular are “particularly conservative,” wrote women’s activist Marta Lempart on the Internet.
The allegations are serious, but the government denies any connection with the legislation. Prime Minister Morawiecki commented directly on the death of 33-year-old Dorota from Nowy Targ in southern Poland:
“What happened is extremely sad, but we shouldn’t draw conclusions today, because there is an investigation that hopefully will give the public information as soon as possible. We shouldn’t add to the family’s suffering through politicization. But I want to say clearly: If If the life and health of the woman are at risk, Polish law leaves no choice – then the woman’s life should be saved. Abortion is never an easy choice, but sometimes it is simply necessary.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Morawiecki
Prosecutor between doctor and patient?
Michal Bulsa from the Szczecin Medical Association and himself a gynecologist complains: The regulations are by no means so clear; one distrusts the courts, which often take many years to reach a decision. “Recent political attacks have not been conducive to patient safety.” Patient and doctor should have a relationship of trust. “There can’t be a prosecutor between us,” he says. “We need solutions that make the patient feel safe, but also the responsible doctor.”
She doesn’t understand at all how anyone would want to become a gynecologist today, given the dilemmas that the profession entails because of the strict laws: that’s what a veteran gynecologist says. Her ancestors would have advised her at the time to go to the gynecologist, it’s about life and happiness and not so much about illness and death.
