Poland Shows the Risks for Women When Abortion Is Banned

Source: New York Times

Poland Shows the Risks for Women When Abortion Is Banned

Poland’s abortion ban has had many unintended consequences. One is that doctors are sometimes afraid to remove fetuses or administer cancer treatment to save women’s lives.

By Katrin Bennhold and Monika Pronczuk
June 12, 2022
Updated 10:25 a.m. ET

PSZCZYNA, Poland — It was shortly before 11 p.m. when Izabela Sajbor realized the doctors were prepared to let her die.

Her doctor had already told her that her fetus had severe abnormalities and would almost certainly die in the womb. If it made it to term, life expectancy was a year, at most. At 22 weeks pregnant, Ms. Sajbor had been admitted to a hospital after her water broke prematurely.

She knew that there was a short window to induce birth or surgically remove the fetus to avert infection and potentially fatal sepsis. But even as she developed a fever, vomited and convulsed on the floor, it seemed to be the baby’s heartbeat that the doctors were most concerned about.

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Poland offers a glimpse of a country where abortion is already practically out of reach even in the gravest circumstances. It has long been a showcase of the volatility and vicissitudes of the abortion battles — and how the lives of women and their doctors are tossed about on shifting social and political tides.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/12/world/europe/poland-abortion-ban.html

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