FEDERA requested to be part of this expert team and sent the letter to the Minister with the recommendations on what these guidelines should include.
Following the Ministry’s press conference of 12 June organised after the death of Dorota in the hospital of Nowy Targ, the Minister of Health formed an expert team to develop guidelines for hospitals on providing abortion care.
Our main asks are:
- Prioritization of the well-being of pregnant women;
- Mandatory training in the latest WHO abortion guidelines;
- Introduction of mifepristone in the Polish market;
- Introduction of compulsory courses in patient-based approach during medical studies;
- Abolition of the conscience clause.
The work of the expert team will not have the desired effect without taking into account the recommendations of NGOs and grassroots movements experienced in helping pregnant women in different life and health related circumstances. We are the ones who assist women in access reproductive health services and advice on a daily basis and we are in direct contact with them. We are well aware of the policy and legal realities they face when seeking abortion care, including in the Polish hospitals and how it impacts their health and wellbeing.
We expect the Ministry of Health to take our recommendations into account. Nothing about us without us.