{"id":10708,"date":"2023-08-01T10:43:43","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cidsr.md\/?post_type=news&p=7656"},"modified":"2023-12-08T18:12:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T15:12:08","slug":"orice-femeie-are-dreptul-la-avort-in-cazul-in-care-sanatatea-sa-este-amenintata-aflati-ce-declaratii-a-mai-facut-ministrul-sanatatii-al-poloniei-adam-niedzielski","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/cidsr.md\/en\/news\/orice-femeie-are-dreptul-la-avort-in-cazul-in-care-sanatatea-sa-este-amenintata-aflati-ce-declaratii-a-mai-facut-ministrul-sanatatii-al-poloniei-adam-niedzielski\/","title":{"rendered":"Every woman has the right to abortion if her health is threatened...\". Find out what else Poland's Health Minister Adam Niedzielski reported.[:]","raw":"Every woman has the right to abortion if her health is threatened...\". Find out what else Poland's Health Minister Adam Niedzielski reported.[:]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"“Every woman has the right to abortion if her health is threatened,” <\/em>the Polish government said after Dorota’s death…<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s health minister, Adam Niedzielski, has announced the creation of a special team to help ensure that pregnant women receive appropriate medical care, including abortions if their health is endangered. His decision follows the latest death of a pregnant woman in hospital. As in some previous cases, the woman\u2019s family and activists have blamed Poland\u2019s near-total abortion ban for the tragedy. But officials say this was a case of medical malpractice.<\/p>\n

Dorota, the woman in question, was admitted to a hospital in the town of Nowy Targ on 21 May 2023 when her waters broke in the fifth month of her pregnancy. According to family members who spoke with the media, Dorota was told that her pregnancy could be saved. She was instructed to hold her legs up above her head in order to bring the waters back, and to remain in that position for days. However, Dorota started to develop symptoms, including headaches and vomiting, while tests indicated an infection was developing in her body, reported the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.<\/p>\n

On the morning of 24 May, doctors confirmed the (inevitable) death of the fetus. Two hours later, Dorota\u2019s own condition became critical and shortly after that she died of septic shock. Dorota\u2019s husband blamed the doctors for a lack of transparency in treating his wife. \u201cNo one told us that the death of the fetus was only a matter of time and that the breaking of the waters was dangerous for Dorota,<\/em>\u201d he told the newspaper. \u201cNo one gave us a chance to save Dorota as no one told us that her life was in danger.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Likewise, a lawyer representing the family stated that Dorota was deprived of the right to choose whether she wanted to risk her life or terminate the pregnancy. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t informed that the probability of keeping the pregnancy is minimal and that in her case every hour brings enormous risk for her health and life<\/em>,\u201d Jolanta Budzowska told broadcaster TVN24.<\/p>\n

Under a 2020 Constitutional Court ruling, abortions in cases where the fetus has been diagnosed with a birth defect were outlawed. That left just two legal justifications for abortion: either if the pregnancy threatens the woman\u2019s life or health, or if it results from a criminal act such as rape.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery woman whose life or health is threatened at any moment of her pregnancy has the right to terminate it<\/em>,\u201d said Niedzielski yesterday, announcing the creation of a specialist team to work on \u201chow to avoid mistakes during care of pregnant women\u201d. <\/em>Speaking alongside him, the government\u2019s Commissioner for Patients\u2019 Rights, Bart\u0142omiej Chmielowiec, said that an investigation of the case found that a number of \u201cinfringements<\/em>\u201d had taken place in Dorota\u2019s treatment and that her death \u201cis an example of medical malpractice<\/em>\u201d. He said that she had not received care \u201cin accordance with current medical knowledge<\/em>\u201d and that her \u201cright to obtain reliable, clear information<\/em>\u201d about her state of health and treatment was violated. The hospital would be given \u201cdetailed instructions<\/em>\u201d to prevent such situations from occurring again.<\/p>\n

After the death of another woman in hospital in 2021, the Health Ministry had issued new guidelines to hospitals on treating complications in pregnancies, with Niedzielski reminding doctors that \u201cthe mother\u2019s life and health are most important<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, women\u2019s rights groups and some opposition politicians have argued that the primary blame is not with the hospital and medical staff, but with a legal and political environment that makes healthcare providers reluctant to provide abortions for fear of prosecution.<\/p>\n

There were mass protests on 14 June in as many as 80 cities across the country to these events. Following the Ministry\u2019s press conference of 12 June organised after the death of Dorota in the hospital of Nowy Targ, the Minister of Health formed an expert team to develop guidelines for hospitals on providing abortion care.<\/p>\n

FEDERA (Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning) requested to be part of the expert team. They sent this letter to the Minister with the following recommendations on what these guidelines should include:<\/p>\n

Main asks:<\/p>\n