A Polish court has ordered a retrial for Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist found guilty of helping a woman terminate her pregnancy, marking a significant moment for Poland’s abortion rights movement.
In 2023, Wydrzyńska was sentenced to community service in the first case of its kind in the EU country, where abortion is nearly banned and providing abortion assistance is illegal. However, on Thursday, an appeals court overturned the 2023 verdict, with Judge Rafal Kaniok citing concerns over the impartiality of the judge who had originally delivered the sentence.
Supporters of Wydrzyńska, including members of her Abortion Dream Team nonprofit, which aids women in accessing abortions, gathered at the court in solidarity.
“For me, this is not a victory,” Wydrzyńska told AFP after the ruling. “The only outcome I would consider a victory today would have been if this court had said: ‘Yes, you are innocent.’” Outside the courthouse, a small group of anti-abortion activists recited Catholic prayers.
Under current law, women in Poland can only have an abortion if the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest or if it threatens the life or health of the mother. Assisting an abortion is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The network Abortion Without Borders reported a significant increase in inquiries for abortion support, both within Poland and abroad. In 2024, the network helped 47,000 individuals access abortion care. The group estimated that up to 150,000 abortions occur annually in Poland, despite the country’s restrictive laws. Official records show that only about 780 abortions were performed in Polish hospitals in the first 10 months of 2024.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist party has struggled to garner enough parliamentary support for its campaign promise to ease Poland’s strict abortion laws. In August, Tusk admitted there was “simply no majority” to fulfill this promise during the current parliamentary term. Discussions on relaxing the abortion laws are expected to resume after the presidential election scheduled for May. However, even if these bills pass, President Andrzej Duda has signaled he would likely veto them.
