Justyna Wydrzyńsk, a pro-choice activist belonging to the Polish group Aborcyjny Dream Team (ADT), will face trial next week after becoming the first such activist to face charges for breaking the country's strict abortion law, reported The Guardian.
Wydrzyńsk, who has been involved in abortion activism for more than 15 years, had provided miscarriage-inducing tablets to a pregnant woman and could be jailed for up to three years if found guilty.
The activist had broken Poland's law by sending abortion tablets she had at home to the woman who had contacted her, because she was 12 weeks pregnant and experiencing domestic violence. The woman had also attempted to travel to Germany to get the abortion but had been prevented from doing so by her husband.
Natalia Broniarczyk, a member of ADT, told The Guardian that they knew of the risk of being charged since they were public about what they did. However, as they usually operated by referring to women organisations abroad, they could not be accused of directly providing abortions.
Poland's Abortion Laws
The country has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, which states that an abortion can only be done in cases of rape, incest, or if there is a clear threat to the mother's life or health.
Abortions on grounds of foetal defects was declared unconstitutional in October 2020.
According to data from the Polish Ministry of Health, 98 percent of the 1,100 legal abortions carried out in Poland every year are cases of fatal foetal defects, which means the new ruling is a near complete ban on abortions in the conservative country. Doctors who defy the law face jail.
(With inputs from The Guardian.)
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