Prosecutors have brought charges against two doctors who treated a pregnant woman before her death in hospital last year. The medics are accused of professional negligence that contributed to 30-year-old Izabela losing her life.
The death prompted mass protests by those who blamed the tragedy on Poland’s new near-total abortion ban. But others argued that the cause was medical malpractice rather than the abortion law itself.
Yesterday, the spokeswoman for the regional prosecutor’s office in Katowice, Agnieszka Wichary, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the two doctors had heard charges “of exposing [Izabela], through failure to exercise proper care, to the immediate danger of losing her life, which resulted in her death”.
Prosecutors believe that the doctors – who they did not name – failed to act in accordance with medical best practice. A lawyer representing Izabela’s family – including her widowed husband and surviving daughter – told TVN that one of the doctors has additionally been charged with manslaughter.
The family lawyer, Jolanta Budzowska, expressed satisfaction with how quickly the case has proceeded. A third doctor who treated Izabela is also facing possible charges.
Izabela died in September last year after being brought to hospital in the 22nd week of her pregnancy following the premature rupture of membranes. Her foetus subsequently died, as did Izabela herself soon after due to septic shock.
During her stay in hospital, Izabela wrote messages to her family saying that doctors had decided to “wait until [the foetus] dies”. She linked their decision to the near-total ban on abortion introduced last year – which made abortions due to birth defects illegal – and complained of being treated as an “incubator”.
After news of her death emerged in November, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the abortion law, which polling shows is opposed by a large majority of the public. The opposition also criticised the government for its anti-abortion stance.
"Thanks to the abortion law, there's nothing they can do," a woman texted her mother shortly before she died in hospital after doctors waited for the death of her foetus, which had birth defects.
Many blame her death on Poland’s near-total abortion ban https://t.co/5hQss5UVTI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 4, 2021
However, right-wing figures – including members of the ruling coalition – argued that the tragedy should not be linked to the abortion law, which still allows doctors to terminate a pregnancy if it threatens a woman’s life or health.
But the health minister admitted that the abortion law could have wrongly “resulted in a doctor being afraid to make a decision” regarding Izabela’s treatment. His department issued new guidance to hospitals on treating complications in pregnancies.
He also ordered an inspection of the hospital, which found that her death had been caused by “wrong decisions” made by doctors and noted “numerous irregularities”. The hospital was fined 650,000 zloty (€138,000) as a result.
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
