European Court Of Human Rights Upholds Ruling That Rights Of Polish Woman Allegedly Denied Abortion Were Violated

The European Court of Human Rights on Monday upheld a ruling that ordered the Polish government to award damages to a Polish woman who says that in 2000 she was denied an abortion despite warnings from physicians that she could become blind if she continued the pregnancy, the Irish Times reports (Irish Times, 9/25).

Alicja Tysiac alleges that Poland's abortion law violated her rights under Article 8 and Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which guarantee "respect for privacy and family life" and "prohibition of discrimination," respectively. Polish law allows abortion only if a woman has been raped, if there is danger to the life of the woman or if the fetus will have birth defects. Three ophthalmologists in February 2000 told Tysiac she would go blind if she were to give birth to a third child. None of the doctors would refer her for an abortion procedure.

In April 2000, Tysiac had an appointment at a public hospital in Warsaw, Poland, where a gynecologist said there was no medical reason to have the procedure. Tysiac gave birth via caesarean section in November 2000. After her c-section, Tysiac experienced a retinal hemorrhage. Since then, "a panel of doctors concluded that her condition required treatment and daily assistance and declared her to be significantly disabled," court documents said.

Ruling, Reaction
Tysiac filed a complaint with the European Court in January 2003, and the court upheld her appeal in March 2007. The ruling stated that Poland failed to guarantee access to legal abortions, that Tysiac's privacy rights had been violated and that her treatment had caused her "severe distress and anguish." In the decision, the court said that Poland has no effective legal framework for pregnant women to assert their right to abortion on medical grounds. It added that Polish law "did not contain any effective mechanism capable of determining whether the conditions for obtaining a lawful abortion had been met" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/21).

According to the Times, the ruling "enraged" the government of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski (Irish Times, 9/25). The governing coalition in the country has been pushing for a total ban on abortion. However, Kaczynski's conservative party has tried to keep abortion-related issues "off the political agenda" since lawmakers in April rejected proposals for tougher abortion restrictions (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/21). Under the ruling, the government will be required to pay Tysiac 39,000 euros, or about $54,900 (Irish Times, 9/25).

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