In Poland, the public prosecutor’s office investigated the death of a pregnant woman in a clinic. The relatives accuse the doctors of not having done anything to save the woman’s life for fear of the strict abortion laws.
The second death of a pregnant woman within three months leads to renewed protests against the strict abortion law in Poland.
(dpa) After the death of a pregnant woman in Poland, the public prosecutor’s office began investigations. The department for medical malpractice is investigating the three clinics in which the 37-year-old was last treated, the public prosecutor’s office in Katowice announced on Thursday.
The family of the mother of three raises serious allegations against the treating doctors. Accordingly, because of the strict abortion law in Poland, they would not have dared to save the woman’s life through an abortion.
The twins died in the womb
As the sister of the deceased wrote on social networks, the 37-year-old from Czestochowa in southern Poland was pregnant with twins in the first trimester when she was hospitalized with abdominal pain and vomiting at the end of December. According to this, on December 23, the doctors determined that a twin had died in the womb, but did not remove the fetus. The second twin also died in the womb seven days later. Shortly after the removal of both fetuses, the woman fell ill with sepsis. Her condition continued to deteriorate until she died on January 25.
A hospital statement on the case said: “After the death of the first child on December 23, a wait-and-see attitude was taken to have a chance to save the second child.” Despite the efforts of the doctors, this was unsuccessful. After the death of the second fetus, the decision was made to terminate the pregnancy.
The case brings back memories of the fate of a 30-year-old pregnant woman from Pszczyna. She died of sepsis last November after doctors waited for the damaged fetus to die of its own accord in the womb.
A year ago, stricter abortion laws came into force in Poland after a controversial ruling by the constitutional court. Since then, women are not allowed to have an abortion even if the unborn child shows severe malformations.
fear of pregnancy
After the latest case, the Polish newspaper “Rzeczpospolita” writes on Friday:
“The tightening of abortion laws, and above all the fear of the consequences of pregnancy, not only discourages having children. It also means that many young women combine planning their families with leaving Poland. After all, how can you not be afraid of pregnancy if you can’t be sure that the doctors will do everything to save the mother’s life?
And this is exactly the question that women ask themselves after another woman’s death, which was preceded by the fact that the doctors waited for the damaged fetus to die (in the womb). This time the victim was a 37-year-old mother who already had three children. Even if one takes the conservative position that women’s calling is to have children and that abortion is a sin, one has to admit that Poland is a cruel country for women of childbearing age. »