Pro-choice activist faces trial in Poland for aiding abortion | Women’s Rights News
Justyna WydrzyĆska, 47-year-old mother of three, who has been helping women access abortion for more than 15 years, is set to face trial in Poland this week for violating the countryâs strict abortion law.
She could be imprisoned for a maximum of three years if found guilty of providing abortion-inducing tablets to a pregnant woman.
In February 2020, WydrzyĆska, the founder of Polandâs first chatroom for exchanging abortion-related information and co-founder of pro-choice advocacy organisation Abortion Dream Team (ADT), was contacted by a woman who was 12 weeks pregnant and living under domestic violence.
It was the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic when Polandâs postal service made announcements that international deliveries might be affected.
âThe woman was desperate to have an abortion. She had previously tried to travel to Germany for the procedure but was stopped by her violent husband,â WydrzyĆska told Al Jazeera in an interview through a video call.
âHer story touched my heart it was similar to what I had experienced in 2006,â recalls WydrzyĆska, who was also 12 weeks pregnant and living under domestic violence when she decided to have an abortion.
WydrzyĆska took the risk and sent abortion pills via the Polish post. âOf course, I helped her; I wouldnât be a human if I hadnât,â said WydrzyĆska.
Police turned up at the womanâs home the day the package of pills, which also contained WydrzyĆskaâs contact details, arrived. She miscarried from stress.
According to WydrzyĆska, the womanâs husband had called the police.
âI do not know why he called the police, maybe he wanted to punish the woman. All I know is that he did not know who had sent the pills,â said WydrzyĆska whose house was raided 16 months later. The Polish police confiscated personal abortion pills she had at home as well as her childrenâs laptop.
The trial
On April 8, WydrzyĆska is to stand trial for assistance in terminating the pregnancy, by which she violated Article 152.2 of the Polish Penal Code. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.
âJustyna W is also charged with the possession of unauthorised drugs with the aim of introducing them to the market,â the press office of the National Public Prosecutorâs Office told Al Jazeera in a statement.
Those seeking abortion access in Poland have been facing strict laws for decades.
Before January 2021, one could end a pregnancy if the fetus was severely damaged, the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape, and in situations where the continuation of the pregnancy put the womanâs life or health in danger.
On January 27, 2021, the ruling of Polandâs Constitutional Tribunal came into effect which found that the grounds of âsevere and irreversible fetal defect or incurable illness that threatens the fetusâ lifeâ was unconstitutional.
Previously, more than 90 percent of the approximately 1,000 legal abortions annually performed in Poland were on this ground, according to the Human Rights Watch.
At least two women have died as a result of the tighter anti-abortion laws.
âMany women still believe that having an abortion is a criminal act in Poland when it is not. We stress this over and over again â having an abortion is not a criminal act in itself, but helping someone perform an abortion can be criminalised,â Katarzyna Szwed, lawyer and member of WydrzyĆskaâs legal team, told Al Jazeera.
âWydrzyĆskaâs case shows how absurd the anti-help law is: She is being punished for helping with something that is legal,â she said.
Szwed says the current law about abortion assistance is vague.
âWe have no idea what activities human rights activists can and cannot do,â she said.
The criminal code, which regulates abortion aid, states that it is illegal to help someone perform an abortion without explaining what is meant by aid.
âImagine you had a speeding regulation, which states that you will be fined if you drive too fast without explaining what the speed limit is,â said Szwed.
âYou have a state that says: Yes, you may have an abortion, but we will not give you information on how to get it, and we will tell everyone around you that it is a criminal offence to help you. This creates an immense chilling effect: anyone who helps you could technically end up in court,â she said.
Basic reproductive care
According to the Netherlands-based pro-choice activist Kinga JeliĆska, the Polish state has failed to deliver basic reproductive care.
âThe responsibility for womenâs reproductive health is on activist and feminist groups. We are the ones following the abortion guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), while the Polish state does nothing,â she told Al Jazeera.
JeliĆska views the charges against WydrzyĆska as contradictory to international recommendations.
âOn one hand, we have the guidelines of the WHO, which recommends community care providers, like Justyna WydrzyĆska. On the other hand, we have criminal charges issued by the Public Prosecutor. Hence, we are being punished for delivering aid that the state failed to provide,â said JeliĆska, drawing parallels to the current refugee crisis.
âWe ask for the same values of solidarity and empathy that Polish authorities have shown to the millions of refugees escaping the war in Ukraine,â she said.
Another abortion activist and doula, Agata Adamczuk, believes that WydrzyĆskaâs case will strengthen the pro-choice movement in Poland.
âWe will work harder, bolder and louder. I see tremendous solidarity and sisterhood that exploded inside the movement after learning about WydrzyĆskaâs case. We are so incredibly angry at the Polish government for harassing activists and women in general,â she told Al Jazeera.
Like WydrzyĆska, Adamczukâs work was inspired by her own experience of seeking an abortion.
âThree years ago, I was pregnant, scared and didnât know where to turn for help. Justyna WydrzyĆska gave me the strength to talk about my own experience. She taught me how to help others and empowered an entire movement. She is the mother of abortion in Poland, and I will forever look up to her,â she said.
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