The new Code prohibits doctors in Poland from performing abortions, even though abortion is legal in Poland. For performing an abortion in violation of the Code of Ethics, a doctor could have his or her license to practice medicine revoked by the Polish Medical Society. Hospitals are now turning women away, forcing them to look elsewhere for abortions, and the cost of abortion by private physicians has reportedly skyrocketed.
Many physicians are simply unwilling to risk their livelihood.
It is only a matter of time before backroom abortions will begin claiming lives. Tadeusz Zielinski, the current state commissioner for civil rights, has upheld the position taken by his predecessor that the Code is invalid. The Constitutional Tribunal has not yet issued a decision, thereby allowing the current crisis to unfold. Thousands of Polish doctors have reportedly signed petitions and written letters of protest to the Polish Medical Society over the restrictions on abortion in the Code of Ethics. The Code was approved by a National Conference of Physicians consisting of a few hundred representatives, and the membership of the Polish Medical Society was given no opportunity to review it.