EP to look into abortion situation in Poland reports daily

According to the Rzeczpospolita daily, the deaths of a few pregnant women were the effect of an October 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that tightened the abortion law in Poland, and this data will be presented in the European Parliament.

In its Thursday edition, Rzeczpospolita wrote that a public hearing would be held, next week, before two committees of the European Parliament on "the consequences of a de facto ban on abortion in Poland."

The daily added that an inspection carried out by the National Health Fund (NFZ) into the case of a 33-year-old woman who died from pregnancy complications found numerous irregularities in the organisation, implementation and quality of healthcare at the hospital that treated her.

According to the woman's husband, doctors did not react properly due to a tightening of the abortion law by the Constitutional Tribunal.

One of the initiators of the hearing at the EP is Robert Biedron, an MEP from the opposition party The Left, who is the chairman of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee.

A list with the names of the alleged victims of the Constitutional Tribunal's verdict will be presented by attorney Kamila Ferenc who represents the Foundation for Women and Family Planning (FEDERA).

According to her, the consequences of the ruling do not only concern cases in which only deaths occurred. "The ruling has also had a negative effect on the availability of prenatal tests and even on the treatment of patients in gynecology and obstetrics wards," she noted.