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Along with Malta, Poland's anti-abortion laws are among the most
restrictive in Europe, and campaigner Justyna Wydrzynska faces
up to three years in jail if convicted of facilitating a
termination.
Her case, which rights group Amnesty International and
campaigners say is the first of its kind in Europe, was
adjourned until January after key witnesses failed to appear.
Poland had enforced a near-total abortion ban since 2021, and
there was a heavy police presence outside the court, where
dozens of protesters also gathered, carrying placards saying
"Abortion is ok" and chanting "I am Justyna"..
"People need to be helped. Sisters especially need to be helped.
I will repeat that every time," Wydrzynska told reporters inside
the court building, her voice wavering, prior to the hearing.
"Today, I also want to represent all those people who help each
other with abortions, that is, mothers who help their daughters,
daughters who help their mothers."
Police intervened after Wydrzynska, a prominent member of Polish
pressure group Abortion Dream Team, provided a pregnant woman
with pills in early 2020 to trigger a miscarriage.
The woman, who Wydrzynska said seemed to be in an abusive
relationship, had called an abortion line asking for help with
terminating her pregnancy. Activists referred Wydrzynska to the
case, after which she mailed drugs she already had at home to
her.
When the woman's partner found out, he called the police, who
intercepted the pills.
Wydrzynska, who also works with a cross-European network of
activists that helps Polish women get abortions in other
European countries with fewer restrictions, said the case had
made her feel like a victim of politics.
"It has cost me a lot, a lot of fear and emotion," she said.
"But I don't intend to stop."
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, Anna Koper and Malgorzata
Wojtunik; editing by John Stonestreet)
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