Women’s rights advocates have called for protests in numerous cities across Poland on Wednesday under the powerful slogan “Stop killing us.” This call comes in response to the tragic death of a pregnant woman due to sepsis, which marks yet another casualty resulting from the tightening of Poland’s abortion laws. The planned protests, demanding the liberalization of these laws, are set to take place in the capital city and nearly 50 other locations during the afternoon and evening.
The 33-year-old woman, named Dorota Lalik, passed away last month in the John Paul II Hospital in Nowy Targ, located in a deeply conservative region of Poland. Notably, the hospital is known for its adherence to conservative principles and the absence of performing abortions, as it houses relics of the late Polish pope. Lalik arrived at the hospital after her water broke and was advised to remain in a position with her legs elevated, in the hopes of reconstituting her fluids. Tragically, she developed sepsis and passed away three days later on May 24.
Under the current abortion law, women in Poland are only permitted to terminate their pregnancies in cases of rape, incest, or if there is a threat to their life or health. Government authorities have emphasized that the law was not the direct cause of Lalik’s death. They assert that she had the right to a legal abortion under these circumstances, and the hospital’s failure to provide this violated her rights.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki commented on the situation, stating, “Such perinatal deaths also occurred during the time of the Civic Platform,” referring to the previous centrist opposition party that held power before his right-wing party took office in 2015.
It should be noted that even before Morawiecki’s Law and Justice party assumed power, Poland already had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Women’s rights advocates argue that these strict laws have had a chilling effect, placing women’s lives at risk as doctors prioritize saving fetuses over women, either due to ideological reasons or fear of legal consequences.
On the other hand, the government and anti-abortion groups contend that these incidents are medical errors unrelated to the new laws. They accuse the pro-choice movement of politicizing tragic deaths as part of their political agenda.
Since the constitutional court’s ruling in 2020, which prohibited the termination of pregnancies in cases of severe fetal deformities, several women have tragically lost their lives. In subsequent cases where the pregnancy was at risk, doctors opted to wait until the fetus no longer had a heartbeat instead of performing an abortion.
Critics also highlight the issue of doctors refusing to perform abortions on the grounds of their personal conscience. The liberal publication Gazeta Wyborcza argued on Wednesday that the “conscience clause” is not only being utilized by individual doctors but even entire healthcare facilities, including the one where Lalik tragically passed away. The paper vehemently called for the abolition of this clause, as it believes such practices lead to fatal outcomes.
Furthermore, a left-wing lawmaker urged parliament to observe a moment of silence on Tuesday in honor of the deceased woman. However, lawmakers from the ruling right-wing party did not rise in response to this gesture.
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