Justyna Wydrzyńska is an activist and member of the Abortion Dream Team and Abortion Without Borders. She has been charged with facilitating abortion access, for giving her abortion pills to Ania, a woman she did not know.

Ania was married to an abusive man. The decision to have an abortion was easy for her, it is the circumstances that were difficult. She was unable to travel to a German clinic, after her husband threatened that he would report a kidnapping if she left the country with their three-year-old. It was the beginning of the pandemic and the postal services were unreliable. Nobody knew how long it would take for abortion pills ordered from Women Help Women to reach Poland. Ania looked for help online and that is where she found Abortion Without Borders. She asked for help and informed them that her husband was reading her messages and emails and checking her browser history. This is how Justyna learned about Ania’s story, which reminded her of her own past – a few years back she was in the exact same situation.

Every single day Abortion Without Borders is contacted by people, who are trying to hide an unwanted pregnancy and their plan to terminate it. I myself experienced how it feels to be with a man who controls you and denies your right to decide about yourself. I had to keep my abortion secret - says Justyna.

Justyna decided to help Ania directly once she realized it might be difficult to help her otherwise. “Where there is a will, there is a way” she told herself and sent Ania her own abortion pills. The controlling husband learned about their plan and they were both busted by the police.

Poland is one of two EU countries where abortion is almost entirely banned. Polish antiabortion law, passed in 1993, allowed for abortion only in three cases: fetal defects, danger to life or health of the pregnant person, or if the pregnancy was the product of a crime. A politically biased Constitutional Tribunal tightened the law in 2020 by removing the provision about fetal defects. People who have abortions are not criminalized under Polish law, but those who directly help them are. Justyna, a member of Abortion Without Borders, is facing up to three years in prison.

Justyna gave her statement and answered questions during the first court hearing that took place on the 8^th of April.

Addressing the court she said:

“I know that the faith that you can decide for yourself is crucial. It is extremely difficult to hold on to it in an abusive relationship. For me, my abortion was the first step towards freedom and my children’s safety. It took me three years to leave my abusive husband. When I gave this person my pills, I wanted her to be able to make a decision about herself. I didn’t want her to have an abortion, I wanted her to have her own choice, I wanted her to be able to decide holding the pills in her hand”.

• The judge allowed Ordo Iuris, a fundamentalist catholic organization, to act as amicus curiae in a supporting role to the prosecution. OI claimed to be protecting the interests of the fetus and its successors.
• 94 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to the Polish government, calling for the charges against Justyna to be dropped. https://twitter.com/joinallofus/status/1511666873997406214?s=21&t=2-96bdXiLZSEosSif79XHw
• Justyna received the support of FIGO – the largest international organization representing gynecologists and obstetricians that is comprised of over 130 gynecological associations from around the world. FIGO published a statement demanding that the charges against Justyna Wydrzyńska be dropped, calling her a human rights’ defender and pointing out her important tole in providing access to safe abortion. Polish authorities did not react. https://www.figo.org/news/figo-urges-polish-authorities-drop-all-charges-against-justyna-wydrzynska
• Four UN special rapporteurs called on the Polish authorities to drop charges against Justyna. These were: Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, Chairwoman of the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls Melissa Upreti, Special Rapporteur on the right to health Tlaleng Mofokeng and Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences Reem Alsalem. Polish Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Family and Social Policy answered their appeal. Their position can summed up as follows: “given that life begins at conception, your remarks are void"
  

  The UN letter: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27207

  Answers from Polish authorities: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=36971

• Justyna received a letter of solidarity from orgaznizations that assist in abortions in Latin America. Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcA7gN0unPd/
• Solidarity demonstrations in Derry, Northern Ireland have been taking place every Friday since the 8^th of April. They are organized by a group called Derry for Choice, who state that their goal is to point out that charges against one of us are a danger to us all.
• As many as 3500 emails and 1200 letters, many of them handwritten, were sent to the prosecutor’s office. The messages, voicing support for Justyna, were sent from Germany, Switzerland, France, Ireland, the UK, as well as the US and Canada.
• Over 19 thousand people signed a petition in support of Justyna published by Amnesty International Poland. You can sign it as well! https://amnesty.org.pl/akcje/stan-w-obronie-justyny/
• Belgian government donated 20 thousand euros to Abortion Without Borders. Secretary of State for Gender equality, Equal opportunity and Diversity Sarah Schlitz officially informed Justyna about the donation during a meeting in Brussels. By inviting Justyna she wanted to affirm her as a human rights defender.
• On the 5^th of July we launched a campaign called Her Body – Her Choice which featured men telling other men that only the pregnant person can decide about an abortion. It is the first such campaign in the world. We published the campaign video right before the second hearing in Justyna’s case to highlight the subject of domestic violence. Both Justyna and Ania had controlling and abusive partners. They were both caught by the police because of Ania’s husband. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... / https://aborcyjnydreamteam.pl/jej-cialo-jej-wybor-mezczyzni-o-aborcji/
• Many organizations, such as International Planned Parenthood Federation, IBIS Reproductive Health, Women’s Link Worldwide, Fòs Feminista, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), sent letters to the Polish authorities or amicus briefs to the court in support of Justyna.
• Swedish EMP Malin Björk posted a solidarity video on Facebook in which she said: ”This is a message of support to Justyna and to all those women that stand behind and in solidarity with women claiming the right to decide over their bodies and their sexuality. (…) [Justyna,] do know that we stand with you and with all those that stand in solidarity with Polish women’s right to abortion care. We will not forget and we will not stop fighting!” https://fb.watch/ec0WlGvNoB/

The next hearing in Justyna’s case will take place on the 14^th of July at 9:30 AM in a court in Warsaw.

Solidarity demonstrations are planned in a few cities:

Warszawa https://fb.me/e/2MZgeOFk8

Kraków https://facebook.com/events/s/pikieta-solidarnosciowa-w-krak/414527097292174/

Wrocław https://fb.me/e/1CA09M1oD