Mass rallies took place in Poland in memory of a deceased pregnant woman | News from Germany about Europe | DW

All over Poland on Saturday, November 6, mass actions were held in memory of a pregnant woman with fetal malformations who died in a hospital in the city of Pszczyna in the south of the country. According to representatives of organizations defending the rights of women, 30-year-old Isabella became the first victim of the toughened Polish legislation a year ago, which effectively prohibits abortion.

The most massive demonstration took place in Warsaw: several tens of thousands of people took part in it, among whom was the former Prime Minister of Poland, leader of the opposition Civic Platform party Donald Tusk. The protesters gathered at the building of the Constitutional Court, and then marched towards the Ministry of Health. As they did so, they shouted the words: “Not one more”, reminiscent of the post-war slogan “Never again,” and held photographs of Isabella in their hands.

“Doctors were waiting for the death of the fetus”

The deceased had a husband and daughter. She was admitted to the hospital in the 22-week pregnancy after her amniotic fluid prematurely departed. According to the lawyer of the Isabella family, Yolanta Budzovskaya, “the doctors were waiting for the death of the fetus.” “The fetus is dead, the patient is dead, septic shock,” she described the further development of the situation.

Protest against the current law on abortion in Poznan

In the correspondence with family and friends, which Isabella led from the hospital, she indicated that “in accordance with the information that doctors told her, they took a wait-and-see attitude, refraining from emptying the uterine cavity until the death of the fetus, which is due to the current regulations that limit the possibility of legal abortion, “said the lawyer.

Polish law in the field of abortion

Today, Polish abortion legislation is one of the strictest in Europe. In October 2020, the country’s Supreme Court further tightened it, ruling that termination of pregnancy if a child has severe malformations is a violation of the constitution. At the moment, abortion in Poland can be done legally only if pregnancy and childbirth threaten the life or health of the mother.

Over the past months, the country has repeatedly held protests against the tightening of legislation in the field of abortion. According to official figures, about 2,000 abortions are performed in Poland every year. Human rights activists claim, however, that more than 200,000 Polish women each year terminate their pregnancies outside clinics or are sent abroad for this operation.

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