The activist is being prosecuted in Poland for having had an abortion

Latest News / By /

That The trial of an abortion activist began this Friday, April 8, in Warsaw, becoming the first trial of its kind in Poland and Europe. This was confirmed by an AFP journalist. Justyna Wydrzynska, a member of the Aborcyjny Dream Team organization, is accused of giving abortion pills in 2020 to a pregnant woman who claimed to have been a victim of domestic violence.

It may interest you: Guatemala is declared the “Pro-Life Capital of Ibero-America” ​​and “lightly” pro-abortion

On November 22, 2021, Wydrzynska was charged with the crime of “providing abortion assistance and unauthorized marketing of medicines” under Polish legislation, one of the strictest in Europe.

Abortion in Poland: a crime against the law

The events happened when a woman who wanted to terminate her pregnancy at 12 weeks of age asked Justyna Wydrzynska for help. The woman had previously wanted to go to an abortion clinic in Germany, but her husband prevented her from doing so. While the woman was waiting at home for a packet of pills, her husband called the police, who confiscated the drug and began an investigation.

Poland, a traditionally Catholic country, already had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe when the constitutional court sided with the populist and nationalist government in 2021. that abortions are only allowed for four reasons: rape, incest, danger to the mother, or malformation of the fetus.

For his part The human rights organization Amnesty International described the trial as “scandalous” and called for the immediate dropping of the charges against the human rights defender. She reiterated that the activist’s work is important in a country like Poland, where voluntary abortion outside of established grounds is not legal.

“In the context of harmful abortion laws, activists like Justyna are essential ensure that pregnant women in Poland do not have to risk an unsafe abortion that endangers their health and life. Polish authorities must immediately drop all charges against them and fully decriminalize this practice, including helping others to have an abortion.