Poland tells doctors ill women have abortion rights after fatal delay terminating pregnancy
- Instruction document issued to obstetricians following death of 30-year-old woman
- Her 22-week-old fetus did not have enough amniotic fluid to survive, say family and lawyers
Poland’s government has issued instructions to doctors confirming it is legal to terminate a pregnancy when the woman’s health or life is in danger, a directive that comes amid apparent confusion over a new restriction to the country’s abortion law.
The November 7 document, addressed to obstetricians, comes in reaction to the hospital death of a 30-year-old mother whose 22-week pregnancy had medical problems.
The doctors have been suspended and prosecutors are investigating.
Angered Poles held massive nationwide protests over the weekend, blaming the woman’s death on Poland’s restrictive abortion law. Women’s rights activists say it has a chilling effect on doctors in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
Poland’s health ministry stressed it is in line with the law to terminate a pregnancy when the woman’s health is in danger, even more so in a case of threat to her life. It included guidance in case of premature loss of the amniotic fluid.
“It should be clearly stressed that doctors must not be afraid to take evident decisions stemming from their experience and the available medical knowledge,” the ministry said.
Until a year ago, women in Poland could have abortions in three cases: if the pregnancy resulted from a crime like rape, if the woman’s health or life was at risk, or in the case of irreparable defects of the fetus. That last possibility was eliminated last year, when a legal ruling said it went against Poland’s law.
