This is very important news for Polish women – that's what doctors say, looking at data from the National Health Fund. They show that if the upward trend continues, the number of legal abortions this year may approach that before the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal by Julia Przyłębska. What does this mean in practice?
Something has changed in the abortion data. – The increases are promising, it is a good signal – comments Antonina Lewandowska from the Foundation for Women and Family Planning “FEDERA”. – This means safety and peace of mind for our patients, for Polish women, it is very important – emphasizes Prof. Filip Dąbrowski, head of the Gynecological and Obstetrics Department at the Bielański Hospital in Warsaw.
Only by the end of August, hospitals carried out 530 so-called inductions of miscarriages. These include both pregnancies terminated as a result of abortion and spontaneous fetal death. According to “Rynek Zdrowia” – throughout last year there were 509 such inductions, two years ago even fewer.
– The political situation has made patients talk about it more boldly, they are not afraid to ask their doctor what they should do about such a pregnancy – notes Prof. Ewa Wender-Ożegowska, national consultant for obstetrics.
“The magic word starting with 'a', abortion, has a paralyzing effect”TVN24
What has changed?
Although the law has not changed, the climate and approach are changing. The National Health Fund and the Ministry of Health began to penalize hospitals for refusing surgery.
– We are talking here about the activities of women's organizations that are somewhat supported by systemic activities, penalties are imposed on hospitals and this certainly also brings results – points out Antonina Lewandowska.
They also notice this in the few hospitals that previously took on the problematic issue of performing most abortion procedures and to which patients came from all over the country for help. – My observations show that this may be the case because more and more patients receive services near their place of residence – says Dr. Gizela Jagielska, gynecologist and deputy medical director of the District Hospital Complex in Oleśnica.
If the upward trend continues, the number of abortions this year may approach that before the judgment of the Tribunal by Julia Przyłębska. Even then, a thousand treatments a year was an official fiction.
Abortions in the Polish state system TVN24
– We should make it several dozen times higher – says Prof. Maciej Socha, consultant of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship for obstetrics and gynecology.
“There is the will to start doing it”
In Poland, most abortions are performed outside the state system – at home or abroad. – We assume that the total number of pregnancy terminations is several hundred per day, so the statistical number we are talking about is very small – points out Maciej Socha.
To increase it, changes in the law are necessary, which have not yet taken place. Doctor Gizela Jagielska points to decriminalization, but it is also important to train doctors who, due to restrictive laws, have not had to deal with abortion for years.
– A number of doctors have asked me how to do something, where to get equipment, so there are certainly centers that have not performed abortions so far, or have performed them to a very limited extent, but there is the will to start. do it – says Gizela Jagielska.
It is also worth supporting with knowledge. – We have a very long road ahead of us, because this care is simply needed on a much, much larger scale – emphasizes Antonina Lewandowska.
Main photo source: TVN24