Poland’s Plan to Record all pregnancies Sparks
concerns
Poland’s
Health Ministry planned a concept to formally register every maternity, a leader
reported, sparking issues themove would result in Pregnant Polish Women “under
surveillance” and break down on abortions performed abroad.
The
decree, written in Oct by the Polish Ministry of Health, was created public
last week by opposition MP Krzysztof Brejza (PO).
Under
the planned changes, pregnant women in Republic of Poland who receive any quite
treatment would have to be compelled to have their maternity registered into
the Medical system (SIM), a national information to keep track of patients
medical records.
The
goal is to avoid prescribing medicines that aren't counselled throughout
maternity and, within the case of providing life-saving treatment, within the
event of inability to get info from the patient, the Health Ministry said.
In
addition, the employment of knowledge concerning maternity is critical to
verify additional services, like receiving free medication or the proper
priority, access to health services.
But
critics have raised issues the move would place pregnant Polish women under
surveillance from health authorities, who would be ready to grasp whether or
not they terminated giving birth or receiving an abortion.
While
the Republic of Poland already had one of the strictest abortion laws in
Europe, a court ruling last year declared it illegal to have an abortion in
cases of fetal defects, introducing a near-total ban on abortions that are
currently permissible in cases of rape incest, or once the mother’s life is in
danger.
As
a result, several Polish women decide on unsafe secret abortions, or travel
abroad – as well to European nation, Slovakia, Germany, or Oesterreich – to
terminate their maternity.
Both
cases may, below the obligatory registration planned by the Polish Health
Ministry, be tracked down and monitored. It remains unclear, however, whether
or not state prosecutors would be ready to access the written record. The
authorities may use [the registry] to pursue women who go abroad to terminate a
pregnancy.
Earlier
this year, Polish officers had urged authorities in neighbour European nations
to take necessary measures to put an end to “abortion tourism” and keep Polish women
from terminating their pregnancy across the border. The request was not
considered by the Czech government.
The
death, of 30-year-old Izabela in the southern
Republic of Poland when doctors delayed a potentially life-saving abortion, was
the primary to appear to the ruling, drawing tens of thousands of Poles within
the street to protest the government’s restrictions.
Several
European countries, as well as Belgium and also the Netherlands, have already
planned plans to fund and facilitate abortions for Polish women unable to
receive such operations at home.