By Meg Jalsevac
WARSAW, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In June of this year, the Polish government appealed the ruling of a European Human Rights Court that ordered the largely pro-life nation to pay restitution to a woman who was not permitted to obtain an abortion under strict Polish abortion law. According to the Irish Times, the court yesterday rejected Poland’s appeal and confirmed the previous ruling essentially granting a higher acknowledgement to European Union (EU) standards over the sovereignty of individual nations and their laws.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews.com, the woman in question, Alicja Tysiac, claims that in 2000 she found out that she was pregnant with her third child. At that time, according to her complaint, she was warned by numerous doctors that her pregnancy and delivery of another child could result in the deterioration of her myopic eye condition.
Poland is a largely pro-life nation and permits abortion only in cases of serious health risk for the mother, when the unborn baby is conceived as a result of rape or if the baby is determined to be “seriously” handicapped.
When Tysiac’s case was dismissed in Poland’s courts, she then sought legal recourse with the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court initially ruled in March of this year that Poland’s laws had provided for a “wrongful birth” and the country must pay the woman a compensatory sum of €25,000.
Ms. Tysiac’s complaint had also alleged that “no procedural and regulatory framework had been put in place to enable a pregnant woman to assert her right to a therapeutic abortion, thus rendering that right ineffective.” Polish officials appealed the ruling contesting that Polish law did not allow for a “right to abortion.”
The European Court of Human Rights has not yet released the official documentation of the “wrongful birth” appeal rejection.
Poland is also embattled with another authority in the hierarchy of the EU. Poland’s EU representatives are objecting to the European Commission’s recent proposal to institute a European Day Against the Death Penalty. The Polish delegation says the EU needs to instead promote a day dedicated to the protection of all human life.
Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
European Court Orders Pro-Life Poland to Compensate Mom Who Was Denied Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032001.html
Poland Appeals EU Ruling of “Wrongful Birth”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07061907.html
Poland Demands EU Make Day for “Right to Life” Not Just Day Against Death Penalty
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07090606.html