Polish activist sentenced to eight months of community service for helping a woman abort

AI affirms that the sentence “sets a dangerous precedent” and represents “a setback” in the rights of women and girls

March 14 () –

A Warsaw court on Tuesday sentenced Polish activist Justina Widrzinska, one of the founders of the NGO Abortion Dream Team, to eight months of community service for sending abortion pills to a woman who requested help, her organization reported.

The activist faced up to three years in prison for providing these pills to a pregnant woman who suffered gender violence and who requested help from her NGO, which defends the rights of women to have an abortion safely. This is, according to the NGO Amnesty International (AI), the first case in Europe of a woman who has been prosecuted for “contributing to an abortion.”

“Today’s conviction marks a depressing low point in Poland’s crackdown on reproductive rights: a setback for which women and girls, and those who stand up for their rights, are paying a heavy price,” said the Secretary General of AI, Agnes Callamard.

In this sense, he has affirmed that this case “sets a dangerous precedent in Poland”, where “abortion is almost completely prohibited”. “(It) offers a chilling snapshot of the consequences of such restrictive laws,” she added.

Widrzinska has stated during the session of her trial that many women who wish to abort safely are forced to travel to do so in Dutch clinics. “Activist organizations are the only salvation from dubious traders or dangerous methods,” she said.

“There are many people who need an abortion, here and now, in a dangerous situation. These dangers are not only the cruelty of the law, nor the negligence, cowardice and opportunism of doctors, but also being in a violent relationship” , has defended the activist.

Since 1993, Polish law has only allowed abortion in cases of rape, incest, or if the pregnancy entailed risks to the health of the mother or fetus. In October 2020, Warsaw declared unconstitutional abortions performed in case the fetus suffers from irreversible developmental disorders, which gave rise to numerous protests.