Published: 07.02.2023
- Proceedings are pending in the Warsaw-Praga District Court against Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist of the Abortion Dream Team, accused of aiding and abetting a drug abortion.
- The activist gave early abortion drugs to a woman who intended to have an abortion.
- The Ordo Iuris Institute is participating in the proceedings as a social organization.
- During the last hearing, the defense tried to have the Institute excluded from the trial, which the court refused to do.
Justyna Wydrzynska is accused of a crime under Article 152 § 2 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes aiding and abetting an abortion in violation of the law, punishable by up to 3 years in prison. The prosecution also accuses the activist of violating Article 124 of the Pharmaceutical Law. Among other things, this provision prohibits the storage of medicinal products with the intent to market them without authorization. The activist pleads not guilty, arguing that she donated the abortifacients driven by emotion and compassion.
On February 6, another hearing took place. This time the witnesses appeared - the woman to whom the accused handed over the abortion pills and the caregiver who took care of her child. These were the final hearings. There is a good chance that at the next hearing the trial in the first instance will end.
A representative of Ordo Iuris was present at the hearing (as at previous ones). This is because the Institute is participating in the proceedings as a social organization. Before the substantive part of the hearing, there was an attempt to exclude the Institute from the proceedings. This was requested by Justyna Wydrzynska's defense attorneys and a witness. However, the court did not grant these requests.
In the course of the trial, the Ordo Iuris Institute provided the court with an extensive written opinion in which it demonstrated that, contrary to what abortion supporters believe, international law does not oblige Poland to allow abortion, does not establish a "right to abortion," nor is such a "right" one of human rights. Thus, Poland may enact laws providing for the punishment of, among other things, assisting in abortions in violation of the law, that is, in situations where those prerequisites in which Polish law has permitted abortion (currently: danger to the life or health of the mother, or where the pregnancy is the result of a crime) do not exist, as well as when other conditions required by the law are not met, such as that the abortion is to be performed by a doctor with certain qualifications.
The next hearing will be held on March 14 - beginning at 9:30 a.m. It is likely that closing speeches will be delivered at the hearing, and at the next date already set - March 27, also at 9:30 a.m. - a verdict may be reached.
How should Polish doctors affirm the right to life amid the efforts of the ruling coalition and Prime Minister Donald Tusk to legalize abortion in Poland, despite the constitutional protection of life from the moment of conception?
A commentary on the new recommendations of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians from Prof. Bogdan Chazan and legal counsel Katarzyna Gęsiak.
- According to polls, a majority of Poles support an increased legal availability of prenatal killing than the public has access to at present. This support fluctuates, however, depending on how a poll’s questions are formulated.
- Leading Republican politicians from the US state of Wisconsin have announced their desire to hold a referendum on the state's abortion law.
- The debate currently taking place on the legal protection of life is the result of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that the so-called right to abortion is not guaranteed by the provisions of the US Constitution.
- The European Parliament will vote on a draft resolution on fundamental rights in the European Union.
- The motion, among other things, condemns the impossibility of performing legal abortion, supports the extension of the list of EU crimes to include 'hate speech' and states that 'housing is not a commodity but a necessity'.