The psychiatrist who informed the services about the situation of Joanna from Krakow commented on the case in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”. “I did not hide the information about the abortion because it was obvious to me that Joanna had done nothing wrong. She had the right to take the pills,” she said. As she added, she did not expect that “the police can behave like this towards a person in need of help.”
In recent days, there has been a discussion about the case of Joanna, who decided to take an abortion pill because the pregnancy was supposed to threaten her health. She felt bad both physically and mentally. She informed her doctor about it. In the Krakow hospital, she was interrogated and searched by the police. The officers took her laptop and phone. The case was presented by “Fakty” TVN.
SEE THE MATERIAL OF “FACTS” TVN: Joanna took the abortion pill. The police came to the hospital, took her laptop and phone
The court, examining the complaint about taking the phone and ordering its return, reminded the policemen that Ms. Joanna was not a suspect, nor was she even considered to be charged.
The first recording that was presented at the police conference in the case of Joanna TVN24
Jarosław Szymczyk, the chief of the police, presented recordings at a press conference, which recorded a call to the emergency number by Mrs. Joanna’s doctor and the receipt of a report in this case by the police. When asked by TVN24 about the actions taken by the police in the hospital, Szymczyk replied that “this is a normal procedure for people who we suspect want to take their own lives.”
“Today I just made sure that the police were hunting me for an abortion. I never said my mood was about abortion. I made it over a week before calling the doctor – Joanna commented on Thursday’s police press conference in an interview. Her attorney announced that she would submit a notification to the prosecutor’s office in connection with the actions of the police.
The second recording, which was presented at the police conference in the case of Joanna TVN24
“It didn’t occur to me that the police might be oppressive”
The doctor who notified the emergency number about Joanna’s situation in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza” argued that she wanted to help her. “I did not hide the information about the abortion because it was obvious to me that Joanna had done nothing wrong. She had the right to take the pills. I did not expect the police to behave like this towards a person in need of help,” she said.
The psychiatrist described the situation that happened on April 27. “In the evening I saw that I had two missed calls from an unknown number to my private phone number. I called back around 8 pm. It turned out that Mrs. Joanna called me. We talked for about an hour. The information she gave me about her health, broader knowledge of her condition and my professional experience made me think that there was a threat to her health and safety” – she reported. As she claims, she persuaded Joanna to call an ambulance, and when the woman refused, she called an ambulance herself. – Mrs. Joanna did not oppose – she noted. She did not want to disclose the details of the conversation, citing medical confidentiality.
The doctor stressed that calling for help “is normal procedure when a psychiatrist has a patient with suicidal thoughts”. She added that throughout the conversation with the 112 dispatcher, she was “in touch, on the line, on the second phone” with Mrs. Joanna. “I gave the dispatcher the necessary information about the patient’s health, both mental and physical” – she informed.
She also emphasized that “the arrival of the police is something natural, because these are the procedures” in the event of a suspected suicide attempt. “When I called about Joanna, it didn’t occur to me that the police might behave oppressively,” she confessed in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
“All this information should remain a secret”
Referring to a press conference by the police chief who released a transcript of her conversation with the emergency dispatcher and the police, she stated that “all this information should remain secret”. “I don’t understand at all why the police are disclosing the patient’s condition. This shouldn’t be happening at all.” – said the doctor in an interview with “GW”.
She noted that in the conversation with the dispatcher, she said about medical abortion, because Joanna mentioned it during the conversation. “It was important information, but not the only one that could affect her mood, so I was obliged to pass it on as information affecting her mental condition. As a doctor, I do not judge the patient’s actions. I spoke about it as a factor affecting her condition, but it was obvious to me that Mrs. Joanna had the right to take pills, that abortion was not a crime, so I did not treat it at all as doing something wrong, forbidden, illegal,” the woman argued. As he claims, “the police did not produce the entire conversation.”
The doctor pointed out that she had informed the patient about the use of abortion pills because she considered it “a part of the medical history to, for example, perform a gynecological examination after being transported to the hospital.” “I knew that Mrs. Joanna had done nothing illegal. I did not analyze these questions in the context of asking about the suspect,” she repeated.
Today, she believes that she “did not understand the intentions of the police”. “My goal was to help a patient who called me in a crisis. The police should withdraw when the doctors find that the patient poses no threat, that there is no need for assistance. In my experience, this has always been the case,” the doctor told Gazeta Wyborcza. She said she felt angry. “I feel that the purpose of the intervention has been completely misunderstood,” she said.
Main photo source: TVN24