Warsaw (AFP) – A Polish court on Tuesday sentenced three doctors to prison sentences over the 2021 death of a pregnant woman, which sparked nationwide protests and renewed scrutiny of the country’s restrictive abortion laws.
Izabela’s death in 2021 set off mass protests.
© Wojtek Radwanski / AFP
The woman, Izabela, whose last name has not been made public, died of sepsis in 2021 while experiencing complications in the 22nd week of pregnancy. Her death came a year after a law toughening abortion restrictions came into effect and reignited mass protests. Her death came a year after a law toughening abortion restrictions came into effect and reignited mass protests.
The three doctors were charged with directly endangering Izabela’s life. A regional court in Katowice sentenced one, who was also charged with causing involuntary manslaughter, to 18 months in prison and barred him from practicing medicine for six years. A second was sentenced to 15 months behind bars and barred from practicing for six years. The third doctor was given a one-year jail term and barred from practicing for four years.
“It’s an appropriate, fair punishment,” Karolina Kolary, a lawyer for Izabela’s family, told journalists after the closed-door hearing. “This was a case involving extraordinary negligence, a pure disregard for the most basic and fundamental medical duties,” she added.
Izabela’s death was the first case linked to a 2020 decision by the Constitutional Tribunal, which ruled that severe fetal abnormalities were not legal grounds for abortion. Prior to this ruling, 98 percent of legal abortions in Poland were performed for this reason. The new restrictions set off a torrent of protests throughout the country, which became the largest mass demonstrations in Poland since the 1989 anti-communist movement. After Izabela died, nationwide protests broke out again, this time under the slogan “Not One More”.
On top of the charges against the doctors, Poland’s National Health Fund (NFZ) found numerous irregularities in Izabela’s care and fined the hospital 650,000 Polish zloty ($179,000).
The Polish patients’ rights ombudsman also found that Izabela’s rights had been violated, and recommended new protocols for septic shock and for situations posing threats to a woman’s health.
SOURCE: France24.com. 3 March 2026.