Polish authorities must end the investigation into the conduct of a doctor who provided a lawful late-term abortion and take measures to ensure her safety following physical and online attacks against her, said Amnesty International in a public statement published today.
Dr Gizela Jagielska faces possible prosecution and imprisonment of up to eight years, for lawfully providing an abortion to a woman in a hospital in Oleśnica in Southern Poland in October 2024, on the grounds that the pregnancy posed a threat to her health.
Instead of investigating Dr Jagielska’s conduct, the Polish authorities must look into the attacks she has faced since the investigation was announced
“Abortion is an integral part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and as essential healthcare, it should not be treated as a crime,” said Monica Costa Riba, Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner on Women’s Rights.
“Instead of investigating Dr Jagielska’s conduct, the Polish authorities must look into the attacks she has faced since the investigation was announced and take measures to protect her safety. The Ministry of Health should also investigate the shocking barriers encountered by the pregnant woman which prevented her accessing the timely and urgent medical care she needed before reaching Dr Jagielska.
“Polish authorities must end the demonization of women seeking abortions and the healthcare professionals who provide them. They must urgently amend the country’s legislation to fully decriminalize abortion and ensure access to abortion for all who need it in practice, without discrimination.”
Background
Poland has amongst the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Abortion is only permitted to safeguard the life or health of the pregnant person or where the pregnancy results from rape. Even in situations in which abortion is lawful in Poland, multiple barriers combine to severely limit access in practice.
In this case, the fetus had the most severe form of osteogenesis imperfecta, a congenital bone disorder, if the pregnancy continued, it would have resulted in death shortly after birth. In October 2020, Poland’s compromised Constitutional Tribunal ruled to remove the legal basis for abortions in cases of severe or fatal fetal impairment.
On 9 April 2025, the District Prosecution Service in Oleśnica announced that it was opening an investigation into Dr Jagielska’s conduct under Article 152 of the Polish Criminal Code (providing an abortion outside the scope of Polish abortion legislation).
On 16 April 2025, Grzegorz Braun, a Member of the Polish and European Parliaments, broke into the hospital where Dr Jagielska works in order to conduct a “citizen’s arrest” of Dr Jagielska,
physically preventing her from leaving her office. Since the District Prosecution Service’s announcement, Dr Jagielska has been exposed to physical and verbal attacks, threats, smears and intimidation in person and online, including incitement to violence against her.
For information about safeguarding the rights of healthcare providers see Key principles and actions to safeguard abortion care providers as human rights defenders – Amnesty International
