Prosecutors investigating the death of a pregnant woman in hospital – which sparked mass protests against Poland’s near-total ban on abortion – have concluded that the tragedy was unrelated to the abortion law.
The woman, Izabela, died in September 2021 after being brought to hospital in the 20th week of her pregnancy following a premature rupture of membranes. Her foetus subsequently died, and then so 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 earlier that year – which made abortions due to birth defects illegal – and complained of being treated as an “incubator”.
"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
After news of her death emerged, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the abortion law, which they believed had prevented or discouraged doctors from acting earlier to remove Izabela’s foetus.
However, many conservatives, including figures from the national-conservative ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), insisted it was a tragic case of medical malpractice unrelated to the law, which they note still allows abortions if a pregnancy threatens the mother’s life or health.
In September 2022, prosecutors – who are under the authority of justice minister and public prosecutor general Zbigniew Ziobro – brought charges against the doctors who treated Izabela. They were accused of professional negligence that contributed to her death.
Two doctors have been charged over the death of a pregnant woman in hospital last year that prompted mass protests by those who blamed the tragedy on Poland's new near-total ban on abortion https://t.co/sk2D7Er8eM
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 7, 2022
Today, Rzeczpospolita, a leading daily, reported that prosecutors have now completed their investigation, with three doctors – including the head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital – set to face trial for unintentionally causing Izabela’s death. All three have denied the charges against them.
According to prosecutors, the doctors acted contrary to medical practice when treating Izabela, which resulted in the death first of the foetus and, consequently, of Izabela herself. They could face between three months and five years in prison if convicted.
The doctors claim that they acted in accordance with procedures. But their argument has been rejected by experts commissioned by prosecutors, by the commissioner for patients’ rights, as well as by the state National Health Fund (NFZ), which fined the hospital in question following an inspection.
Rzeczpospolita reports that prosecutors found that the constitutional court ruling which tightened Poland’s abortion law in 2021 by outlawing abortions due to birth defects had no impact on the doctors’ conduct in Izabela’s case. The medics themselves and their lawyers also did not raise that issue in their arguments.
Tak samo nie miał, jak PiS nie miał wpływu na TK.
"Według prokuratury wyrok Trybunału Konstytucyjnego nie miał żadnego wpływu na postępowanie lekarzy."
Śmierć 30-letniej Izabeli wstrząsnęła Polską. Nowe fakty https://t.co/T6U3Mv6ZuR przez @OnetWiadomosci
— Piotr Wesołowski (@APPiotr) November 16, 2023
When contacted by the newspaper, Jolanta Budzowska, a lawyer representing Izabela’s family, said that she was unable to comment on the prosectors’ findings.
However, she said that the accounts of “Izabela’s husband, her text messages, as well as the explanations given by one of the doctors to her sister-in-law clearly prove that the stricter abortion law had an impact on the doctors’ decision-making process”.
That is the case regardless of whether or not the doctor’s actions were in accordance with proper procedure, added Budzowska.
Thousands joined protests against Poland’s near-total abortion ban yesterday following the latest death of a pregnant woman in hospital.
But the conservative authorities say the tragedy was caused by medical malpractice, not the abortion law https://t.co/dJFJn6O1Y4
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 15, 2023
Izabela’s death is one of a number suffered by pregnant women in hospitals since 2021 – a phenomenon that activists have blamed on the tightening of the abortion law.
In response to such concerns, in June this year, the health minister announced the creation of a special team to help ensure that pregnant women receive appropriate medical care, including abortions if their health is endangered.
Shortly afterwards, Poland’s Supreme Medical Chamber (NIL), the body representing the country’s doctors, issued guidelines on performing abortions when a pregnancy threatens the mother’s health or life.
After PiS lost its parliamentary majority at last month’s elections, a new coalition government formed by three opposition groups is likely to soon take power. Its members have pledged to end the near-total abortion ban, though they differ on how far the law should be liberalised.
Bills to introduce abortion on demand and decriminalise helping women obtain abortions were proposed on the first day of the new parliament by The Left, which is part of the coalition likely to form Poland's next government https://t.co/44ePma36jo
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 14, 2023
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Main image credit: Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
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.
