Polish Woman Dies When Doctors Refuse Treatment, Fearing for Fetal Life

It’s easy to worry about the ways in which abortion rights — and women’s health more generally — are under attack in the upcoming election. What’s easier to overlook are the ways women’s health is compromised in countries with seemingly less debate at the intersection of religion, health care, and women’s rights.

This makes it particularly distressing to read about Edyta, a Polish woman who died after being refused medical treatment for a colon condition simply because it might have interfered with her pregnancy. In fact, her condition was exacerbated by her pregnancy in the first place, but no matter for her doctors. Still in her first trimester, Edyta was turned away repeatedly by local physicians who never stated their explicit reasons for denying her care — that treating the disease could result in a miscarriage or could force an abortion — and eventually, Edyta died.

Poland is one of several countries (along with Italy, Hungary, and Croatia) in which doctors, not unlike pharmacists in the U.S., can refuse to treat someone on moral grounds. While troubling, it usually does not present a case like Edyta’s because the doctor is required to explain the reason for refusing treatment. Then, a woman can be referred to another physician who is willing to risk the pregnancy to save her life. For the most part, this compromise (as if there should be one when a woman’s life is at risk) has been working.