The European Court of Human Rights found Poland guilty on Thursday (13) of “violating the right to respect for private life”, following the case of a woman who was forced to have an abortion abroad in 2020, due to lack of clarity in legislation at the time.
The woman was pregnant with a fetus with Down syndrome. Although the Polish law of 1993 permitted abortion in the case of fetal abnormalities, on October 22, 2020, the Constitutional Court considered this practice to violate the constitution. This decision, which sparked a series of demonstrations in the country, only came into effect on January 27, 2021.
Fearing that she would no longer be able to have a legal abortion in her country, the woman, who was 15 weeks pregnant after the Constitutional Court’s announcement, traveled to the Netherlands, where the pregnancy was terminated in a private clinic.
The European judges “unanimously” condemned Poland for violating the “right to respect for private life”, guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The European Court held that women are “directly affected” by the development of legislation.
Compensation
“The court finds that the interference with the exercise of the plaintiff’s rights resulted from the great uncertainty that existed between the Constitutional Court’s decision in 2020 and its publication in 2021.” The text highlights that this lack of clarity has been exacerbated “by the absence of transitional measures and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Poland must pay 1,495 euros in compensation for material damages and 15,000 euros in compensation for moral damages. “It is a fair decision, the only possible decision,” said Natalia Bronyarchik, from the NGO Aborcyjny Dream Team. According to her, since the Constitutional Court’s decision, “at least seven women every day go to a foreign clinic to terminate their pregnancies.”
“We celebrate this decision, but we are still searching for the resources we need to support the women who contact us every day,” said Mara Clark of Support for Abortion for All (SAFE).
At the end of 2023, the European Court had already convicted Warsaw in a similar case. The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, is a court responsible for adjudicating violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the 46 countries that have ratified it.
With agencies
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