Last week, the UN strongly condemned the sentencing of Justyna Wydrzyńska, a Polish woman and human rights defender who was found guilty of assisting in the process of obtaining medical abortion and demanded her acquittal from all charges. The Polish Court sentenced her to 30 hours of community service a month for eight months.
The case marks “the first time in recent history in which a human rights defender in Europe has been prosecuted and convicted for assisting with access to abortion,” according to the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a global human rights organisation of lawyers and advocates.
In 2020, in the context of her activism, Justyna Wydrzyńska supported a victim of gender-based violence in obtaining a voluntary termination of her pregnancy through medication. The activist has appealed the decision and is requesting her acquittal. Wydrzyńska is a co-founder of the Polish activist group, Abortion Dream Team, which campaigns against abortion stigma in the country. The collective offers trainings and counselling on how to obtain safe abortion. In a post on its website, Abortion Dream Team said Wydrzyńska provided the pills to a woman named Ania, who was married to “an abusive man” who threatened to report a kidnapping if she travelled to Germany with her 3-year-old son for an abortion. Ania’s partner reported her to the police who then confiscated the pills.
UN experts have urged competent judicial authorities in Poland to acquit Wydryńska from all charges. “The charges against Ms. Wydrzyńska appear to be intended to punish her work as a human rights defender and to instil fear among those who are supporting Polish women in accessing safe abortion care, and already working in a hostile environment,” they said.
Since a Constitutional Court ruling in 2020, Poland’s abortion legislation has been among the most restrictive in Europe. Abortions are only permitted on two grounds: when the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the pregnant woman and when it is the result of a rape or incest. Even in those situations, multiple barriers limit women’s access to abortion in practice, particularly those from low-income and rural communities.
The experts warned that the 2020 ruling has a chilling effect as medical professionals fear repercussions even in situations where abortion remains legal. “This exacerbates health risks for women seeking an abortion,” they said.
While the mere possession or self-management of abortion-inducing medicines is not a crime in Poland, any person or doctor who helps pregnant women to obtain an abortion outside the limited grounds permitted by law is liable to sanctions of up to three-years in prison.
The experts said people in Poland in need of a safe abortion rely on non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders for trustworthy information and lifesaving support. “The activism of individuals like Ms. Wydrzyńska often results in the only chance to access a safe abortion in Poland where services to terminate a pregnancy are, in practice, made unavailable by the various restrictions in place. These activists should be protected, not prosecuted,” the UN experts said.
The UN experts reiterated a statement issued on World Contraception Day and International Safe Abortion Day 2022, calling on states to decriminalise abortion and protect sexual and reproductive health rights. Nearly a year ago, the UN experts expressed their concerns to the Polish Government regarding the charges against Justyna Wydrzyńska.
“The Government of Poland must drop the charges against Ms Wydrzyńska, revise its legislation with a view to decriminalising abortion, ensure access to essential medicines required for safe self-management of abortions, and cease targeting human rights defenders in Poland, particularly those advocating against the country’s restrictive abortion law,” the UN have said