We had the opportunity to feature Justyna Wydrzyńska in 2020, when she spoke in an interview with Grażyna Hanaf about abortion in Poland: Justyna Wydrzyńska: Abortion is OK. A conversation about abortion without guilt or shame.
On April 14, 2023, a Warsaw court delivered its verdict in the high-profile case of activist Justyna Wydrzyńska, who in 2020 shared her pills with a person experiencing an unwanted pregnancy whose 12th week was approaching.
On the website of the Abortion Dream Team, we read:
Ania first tried to have an abortion at a foreign clinic, but her despotic husband prevented her from doing so. Ania’s controlling partner set a trap for her at home and called the police; the men took the medication away from the woman.
Justyna is a 47-year-old resident of a small town who devotes her time to helping women with unwanted pregnancies. This is the first case in Europe brought against an activist for aiding an abortion by providing pills.
The prosecution wanted Justyna imprisoned and demanded a three-year prison sentence. In the end, she was sentenced to eight months of community service.
In her closing statement, Justyna Wydrzyńska said:
In this courtroom, we are addressing fundamental human rights. This includes the right to self-determination. Numerous organizations with extensive knowledge of this issue have stood up for me, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Helsinki Foundation, which state plainly that I am a human rights defender. They are not alone in this view—the organization "Catholics for Choice," the Belgian Parliament, more than 80 Members of the European Parliament, and high-ranking UN special rapporteurs on women’s rights have appealed to the Polish government, stating that I should never have been charged with the offense alleged against me. I should never be persecuted for activities that protect women’s health and lives. This is also supported by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, which has explicitly demanded that all charges against me be dropped and emphasized that my actions are not only safe but also recommended by the World Health Organization.
And the court knows this, because many of these expert organizations submitted amicus curiae briefs. These are not isolated statements from experts, but also the view of hundreds of thousands of people who signed a petition to the prosecution service. All these voices repeat the same thing: this trial simply should never have taken place. I am grateful for this tremendous support.
The full statement is available on the Abortion Dream Team.