Three Polish doctors, accused of delaying an abortion on a woman who eventually succumbed to septic shock, were sentenced to prison terms on Tuesday in a case that sparked widespread protests against Poland's highly restrictive abortion laws.
The three men received sentences of up to eighteen months, whereas in the first instance one of them had been given a suspended sentence, said the lawyer for the woman's family, Ms. Karolina Kolary, describing the sentence as "appropriate, fair".
"It must be borne in mind that this was a case of extraordinary negligence, a pure disregard for the most fundamental and basic medical duties," she told the press after a closed-door hearing.
The defense has announced an appeal to the Supreme Court.
"We contest both our client's guilt and the sentence handed down," said one of the three defense lawyers, Adam Gomola.
The patient, Izabela, 30, died in September 2021 at the hospital in Pszczyna (southern Poland), where she had been admitted for serious pregnancy complications. However, the doctors had refused to perform an abortion.
The tragedy occurred less than a year after the Constitutional Court's decision — backed by the nationalist government at the time — to ban abortions in cases of severe fetal malformation, effectively eliminating one of the last legal grounds for abortion in the country.
Polish law theoretically permits abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. However, NGOs and human rights advocates say the regulations have become so restrictive that many doctors refuse to perform abortions for fear of prosecution.
In the first half of 2025, only 411 legal abortions were recorded by the National Health Fund (NFZ).
According to Mara Clarke, co-founder of Abortion Without Borders, her organization helps "more than 130 women a day in Poland to have safe abortions" by sending pills or organizing trips abroad.
In recent years, several pregnant women have died in Polish hospitals after doctors refused to perform abortions despite serious medical complications. Izabela's death sparked a wave of massive protests.
Her family claims that doctors waited for the fetus to die spontaneously before intervening, for fear of breaking the law. The hospital maintains that the decisions were made in the best interests of both the patient and the fetus.
– “Not one more”
Before the Constitutional Tribunal's decision, 98% of legal abortions performed in Poland concerned fetal malformations.
The tightening of the law had triggered the largest demonstrations since the fall of communism. Izabela's death reignited the mobilization, this time under the slogan "Not one more."
A review of the case by the NFZ highlighted numerous irregularities in the patient's care.
The patient rights ombudsman concluded that her rights had been violated and recommended the development of specific procedures for cases of septic shock or serious threat to women's health.
The ruling centrist coalition promised in 2023 to relax the abortion law, but internal disagreements are blocking any reform.
And the nationalist president Karol Nawrocki, backed by the conservative PiS party, could also veto any parliamentary attempt.
"Izabela was not the first nor the last woman to die for lack of a safe abortion," says Mara Clarke, "I pray that no more women will die in the future."
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