Abortion in Oleśnica. President Andrzej Duda comments in strong words

I hope that people who are responsible for this will be responsible. Adequate criminal liability – said Andrzej Duda, referring to events from Oleśnica. There, in the hospital, on request and with the consent of the woman, an abortion was carried out in the 36th week of pregnancy due to the threat of a woman's health or life. In his opinion, the president also pointed to the “responsible” person.

“What happened in Oleśnica, I consider it barbarism, in fact it was a murder,” he said on Friday Andrzej Dudacommenting on the case of an abortion in a woman in the 36th week of pregnancy.

On Friday evening, in an interview with TV Trwam, President Andrzej Duda was asked about events from Oleśnica. The question was related to the case of the patient described by the media in a severe mental state, which last year underwent a hospital in Oleśnica to interrupt pregnancy in its 36th week. It used the induction of fetal assistoly (sticking to the heart with potassium chloride). The premise for terminating pregnancy was the threat to a woman's health or life. The doctor who performed the procedure emphasizes that the termination of pregnancy was lawful. She also indicated that she consulted with a national consultant.

“Personally, I consider what happened as barbarism”

– I hope that people who are responsible for this will be responsible. Appropriate criminal liability. First of all, as far as I know about this matter, it was done on the basis of guidelines, which in the scope of mental health of the patient were issued by the Minister of Health. Minister (Izabela Leszczyna – note ed.) In this respect, he is certainly a responsible person and here I have no doubt about it. These issues should be considered in detail by the prosecutor's office – said Andrzej Duda.

– Remember that we have a clear case, we have a constitution, we have rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal, which have been issued in the context of constitutional provisions and we have the provisions of the Act that regulate this case. However, the minister's guidelines do not constitute a law in Poland – he said.

The president estimated that on the one hand it is a matter of moral responsibility and political responsibility, but in his opinion it is also a matter of legal liability. – Personally, I consider what happened, as barbarism. For me, it was a murder – said Duda.

Abortion at the hospital in Oleśnica

The story of a woman from Oleśnica was described by “Gazeta Wyborcza”. She had previously been sent to the Central Clinical Hospital of the Medical University in Łódź and was to be misled by doctors about the state of her pregnancy. It was only at the late stage of pregnancy that she was to learn about the serious fetal defects, and therefore planned abortion. The patient's family sought help among pro -abortion organizations.

After returning from the psychiatric ward, she was subjected to further examinations and two consiles were convened, on which decisions were to be made regarding further behavior with pregnancy. The patient applied for abortion, a psychiatric consilion decided that “there are premises for pregnancy termination.”

The woman decided on her, but more research was demanded from her. Some doctors claimed that the defect was serious while others maintained that the prognosis was unclear. According to the president of the Polish Society of Gynecologists and obstetricians, prof. Piotr Sieroszewski, the patient was offered a imperial cut due to her poor mental state and taking the child with highly specialized pediatric care. The woman did not agree to this and wrote at her own request from the hospital.

Pregnancy was finally interrupted in a hospital in Oleśnica. The procedure for interrupting pregnancy in the 36th week was performed by gynecolor, Dr. Gizela Jagielska, using the method of induction of fetal assistles. It involves giving potassium chloride to his heart in the injection. The doctor estimated that the termination of this pregnancy was lawful. She also indicated that she consulted with a national consultant.

In the first half of April, the District Prosecutor's Office in Oleśnica initiated an investigation into abortion in violation of law.

Tightened abortion law

At the end of August last year, Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna presented guidelines for doctors and hospitals regarding the termination of pregnancy. The Minister of Health pointed out that one doctor's decision is sufficient for the procedure for stopping pregnancy confirming the existence of a woman's health or life threat, including, for example, a psychiatrist's certificate. Leszczyna emphasized that the guidelines do not change the law, but they are an interpretation of its application for doctors and hospitals due to the fact that there were many questions after a loud CT judgment sharpening abortion law.

The judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of October 2020 does not apply to the termination of pregnancy due to a severe fetal defect. The law allowed the use of this premise until the fetus achieved the ability to live independently outside the body of a pregnant woman. Currently, pregnancy can be interrupted in the event of a threat to a woman's health or life or when it arose as a result of a criminal act, e.g. rape. In the case of a prerequisite for a woman's health or life, there is no specific date until the expiry of which is possible to terminate pregnancy. In the event of a criminal act, the termination of pregnancy is possible until its 12th week.

In November, Leszczyna in an interview with PAP said that she was aware of the fact that the publication of guidelines for pregnancy was evoked by emotions.

– They appeared because the cruel judgment of the tribunal of Mrs. Przyłębska caused not only to delete one premise for interrupting pregnancy, i.e. the defect of a lethal fetus, but with this recipe a provision was deleted to which week of pregnancy the procedure can be performed. So we stayed with leaky recipes. And this is dramatic. Politicians who have made such a decision are responsible for the fact that this question remains unanswered, “she said.

Learn more:

Tvn24