A Polish appeals court has upheld prison sentences for two doctors convicted over the death of a pregnant woman in a case that has been seized upon by pro-abortion lobbyists.
The ruling, delivered by the District Court in Katowice on Tuesday, March 3rd, also toughened the sentence of a third doctor, converting a previously suspended term into an immediate custodial sentence.
Izabela, a 30-year-old woman, died of septic shock in 2021 after being admitted to hospital at 22 weeks pregnant following a premature rupture of membranes. Her unborn child had severe developmental defects. She requested an abortion and was denied due to Poland’s pro-life laws.
In July last year, a lower court sentenced two gynaecologists to prison terms of 15 and 18 months respectively, while the acting head of the ward received a one-year suspended sentence. On appeal, judges upheld the original custodial terms and ordered that the ward head serve one year in prison without suspension.
All three have been banned from practising medicine for between four and six years.
The case became a flashpoint in Poland’s abortion debate. Conservative groups say the court’s findings confirm that medical negligence, rather than Poland’s strong pro-life law, was to blame. The country’s abortion law allows pregnancies to be terminated if they threaten the health or life of the mother.
But critics, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, linked Izabela’s death to the tighter abortion rules introduced under the former Law and Justice government.
Magdalena Majkowska, a board member of conservative legal group Ordo Iuris, said that the ruling highlighted how the abortion lobby had “organised a massive disinformation campaign around this tragedy.”
