What Happened After Poland Banned Abortions?
Photo Credit: Oscar Nord (Unsplash)
In a 5-4 decision published late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding that pregnant people in the U.S. no longer have a constitutional right to an abortion. In the short time since this historic ruling, Americans have wondered how this may impact the U.S.'s surprisingly abysmal maternal healthcare system. On their website for the U.S., Every Mother Counts notes that "today, a woman is twice as likely to die from complications of pregnancy and birth than her mother was a generation ago." We do not have to look to past generations to see what may occur in the U.S. in the absence of Roe's protections. Instead, we can look at Poland today to see what has happened in the year since the country banned abortions in nearly all circumstances.
“My life is in danger."
In "Poland Shows the Risks for Women When Abortion Is Banned," The New York Times highlighted Izabela Sajbor's tragic story. Her doctor had made it clear that her fetus would likely die in her uterus due to irreparable abnormalities. If the fetus did not die in utero, the doctor believed it would perish in less than a year (at maximum). When she was 22 weeks pregnant, Sajbor's water broke, and she was rushed to the hospital. While the doctors at the hospital were solely concerned with the fetus's heartbeat, Sajbor "developed a fever, vomited and convulsed on the floor." Poland's recently enacted anti-abortion law prevents the doctors from helping her as long as the fetus still had a heartbeat. Shortly before dying, Sajbor sent heartbreaking texts to her husband and mother. One message said that her "life was in danger" and in another she wrote, referencing the consequences of the anti-abortion law, “a woman is like an incubator.”
The hypocrisy of the Hippocratic Oath.
If you read Poland's anti-abortion law, you will see that the language actually permits abortions when a pregnant person's life is in peril. If that is true, why did the hospital fail to prevent Izabela Sajbor's death? The guidelines around acceptable interventions are vague, making physicians incredibly cautious to act. Jan Kochanowicz, the director of the University Clinical Hospital in Bialystok, told The New York Times, “this law creates problems for doctors and patients. There is no clear and straightforward answer to what constitutes a threat to a woman’s health and life. Doctors are afraid to make decisions.” Could the same thing occur in the United States in places where abortion is technically permissible when a pregnant person's life is imperiled? Will fear, rather than adherence to a doctor’s oath to “first do no harm,” guide physicians' decisions?
European activists have stepped up.
Antonina Lewandowska, an abortion-rights advocate in Poland, spoke to National Public Radio (NPR) about how activists across Europe are helping pregnant people in Poland find access to the care they need in other countries. Legally, her team in Poland is permitted to send interested parties to websites with abortion clinics in other nations. She is also allowed to let people know that they can acquire abortion pills from the Netherlands. Through private channels, those who cannot afford abortion care can receive financial assistance. Lewandowska told NPR, "there is a saying in Polish - if I cannot get through the door, I will get in through the window."
Here at Girl Friday, we understand that people's political ideologies and religious views might also shape their opinions about healthcare. Our organization's stance on this issue is solely shaped by a desire for everyone to have unfettered access to quality, affordable healthcare options. We firmly believe that an individual's personal reproductive decisions should remain in the private domain of the patient and healthcare providers.
If religious freedom is important to you, please consider donating to an organization like the National Council of Jewish Women. The organization's mission is to "engage in nonpartisan efforts to educate the community about abortion and reproductive health issues, de-stigmatize abortion, and support bodily autonomy and religious freedom." As they note on their website, "for too long, the American narrative about religion and abortion has ignored Jewish voices."
If supplementing costs associated with abortion care is important to you, please consider supporting The Brigid Alliance. With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, finding an abortion provider is going to become even more challenging for pregnant people in financial distress, especially in states where abortions are banned. How does this organization step in? Their team covers "travel expenses, and child care, serving as a single, trusted point of contact for every step of the journey."
The photo above shows a field of corn poppies, or red poppies, which are the national flower of Poland. Learn more about how the poppy became a symbol of Poland here.