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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Three doctors have been handed prison sentences for their negligence in treating a pregnant woman who died in hospital under their care. Her death in 2021 prompted mass protests against Poland’s near-total abortion ban, which had been introduced earlier that year
The 30-year-old woman, Izabela, was admitted to hospital in the 22th week of her pregnancy following a premature rupture of membranes. Her foetus, which had severe developmental defects, 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 abortion law 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
However, supporters of the abortion law note that it still allows pregnancies to be terminated if they threaten the health or life of the mother. They argued that Izabela’s death was the result of malpractice by doctors.
Prosecutors subsequently charged the three doctors with professional negligence that endangered their patient’s life. One of them was additionally accused of manslaughter. All three pleaded not guilty.
Today, the district court in Pszczyna, the town where Izabela was from, convicted all three doctors. The trial was held behind closed doors, with today’s oral justifications for the rulings also kept confidential.
Sąd uznał za winnych i skazał lekarzy w związku ze śmiercią Izabeli z Pszczyny#PAPInformacje pic.twitter.com/TkRmEwodqx
— PAP (@PAPinformacje) July 17, 2025
Two gynaecologists who were on duty during Izabela’s treatment – and who can be named only as Michał M. and Andrzej P. under Polish privacy law – received prison sentences of one year and three months and one year and six months, respectively.
Krzysztof P., who was deputy head of the department in which she was treated, was handed a suspended sentence of one year in prison. All three have also been given temporary bans on practising medicine ranging from four to six years, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Prosecutor Magdalena Filipowicz described the sentences – which can still be appealed – as “satisfactory”, reports broadcaster RMF. The crimes of which the doctors were accused carry maximum sentences of five years.
Joanna Wolska, an activist from the Women’s Strike movement that has led protests against the abortion law, welcomed “a verdict that all of Poland has been waiting for”.
An inspection of the hospital in Pszczyna shortly after Izabela’s death found “a series of irregularities” in the treatment of pregnant women. It was fined 650,000 złoty (€138,000) as a result.
Poland’s commissioner for patients’ rights, Bartłomiej Chmielowiec, said at the time that the hospital had failed to provide Izabela with proper care or even keep her properly informed of her condition.
Meanwhile, Donald Tusk – who was then an opposition leader and is now the prime minister – blamed Izabela’s death on the tightening of the abortion law. He accused the then-ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party of “selling itself to a religious sect”.
When Tusk’s coalition came to power in December 2023, it pledged to liberalise the abortion law. However, it has so far been unable to do so owing to disagreements between more conservative and liberal elements of the ruling camp on what form the new abortion law should take.
Poland’s government has published guidelines for when and how abortions can be carried out, to ensure that doctors and prosecutors “take the woman’s side” when making decisions.
“If we won’t change the law, we will change the reality,” says @donaldtusk https://t.co/YwJjCrs9vw
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 31, 2024
Izabela’s death is one of a number that activists have blamed on Poland’s tightened abortion laws, which they argue make doctors even more reluctant to terminate pregnancies for fear of facing legal consequences.
In May this year, three doctors were charged over the death of another pregnant woman, Dorota, who died at a hospital in Nowy Targ in 2023, prompting further mass protests.
After Dorota’s death, the PiS health minister, Adam Niedzielski, reminded doctors that “every woman whose life or health is threatened at any moment of her pregnancy has the right to terminate it” and set up a special team to work on “how to avoid mistakes during care of pregnant women”.
After today’s ruling, government spokesman Adam Szłapka tweeted that “moral responsibility” for Izabela’s death lies with PiS. However, PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek responded by saying that the ruling confirmed that the abortion law “had no connection with this woman’s death”.
Orzeczenie sądu demaskuje kłamstwo waszej propagandy i potwierdza, że decyzja TK nie miała związku ze śmiercią tej kobiety❗️
Najlepiej wychodzi wam taniec na trumnach i nieszczęściu ludzi… Nic innego nie potraficie. Na trudnych, także często losowych przypadkach chcecie robić… https://t.co/KsrwYHwfu1 pic.twitter.com/C23HBxzVPj— Rafał Bochenek (@RafalBochenek) July 17, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Adrianna Bochenek/ 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.
