Update July 5: After LifeSiteNews published this article, Orłowski Hospital responded to our inquiry with the following statement:
In response to your email, I inform you that the hospital does not have any official information about the incident described in your email. The hospital has no knowledge either about the investigations conducted by the police or the prosecutor, except that the suspect works at Orłowski hospital. The incident in question took place outside the hospital and that is why Orłowski hospital is not a proper authority to conduct the investigation.
WARSAW, Poland, July 4, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A Polish doctor and a medical student attacked a pro-life display outside an abortion center last week, but are now claiming they themselves were attacked, according to pro-life activists.
Mariusz Dzierżawski from Poland’s Right to Life Foundation told LifeSiteNews that the two feminist assailants attacked a pro-lifer who was guarding anti-abortion posters displayed on a truck. Two weeks ago the Foundation legally parked this vehicle in front of Orłowski Hospital in Warsaw. The attack took place there on July 1 around 10 pm when Martyna Równiak, a medical student at the Warsaw Medical University, and Natalia Jakacka, a medical doctor working at Orłowski Hospital, approached the mobile exhibit on bikes. According to Dzierżawski, they started yanking the posters using a sharp utility knife. A pro-life activist told them it was illegal to destroy the exhibit. “It did not deter them,” Dzierżawski said, adding that the two women became aggressive and one of them waved the knife at the pro-lifer.
The victim took pictures of the women threatening him and defended himself with pepper spray until the police arrived. He did not harm anybody. Shaken after the incident, he fears for his family’s safety and does not want to talk to media.
Dzierżawski explained that the anti-abortion truck is a part of their campaign “Hospitals without Abortionists” that started months ago. Orłowski Hospital was a perfect target since it performed 119 abortions in 2016, making it, according to Dzierżawski, “the biggest slaughterhouse in Poland.” The truck had been parked just in front of the main entrance to the clinic to inform patients about the abortions. The organizers were not surprised by the attacks since the exhibit had been destroyed before. Last weekend, the posters were cut with a knife and defaced with feminist symbols. Since then, the posters were damaged twice in the two-week span.
The two assailants are known feminist activists. Równiak is a member of the Medical Students for Choice, and Jakacka, according to pro-lifers, has lobbied for access to the so-called emergency contraception ellaOne. What’s more, both women left incriminating Facebook posts, by exchanging ideas on how to attack the “Hospitals Without Abortionists.” Jakacka complained that the hospital director “blew [her] off” when she raised the issue of the truck. Równiak challenged the pro-lifers, commenting: “Bring another [truck], we will take care of it.”
Surprisingly, Równiak and Jakacka now claim that the pro-life activist attacked them. Równiak told the left wing radioZET that they both stopped by the truck parked by the hospital. They did not give any reason why they were there at night and did not mention having a knife. However, one of them admitted having pepper spray and filming the incident. According to the women, the man yelled at them and used the pepper spray, so they called the police. Równiak complained that they spent an hour searching for the “stolen” smart phone. She also threatened to sue two media outlets which published a different version of their story.
LifeSiteNews contacted the Orłowski Hospital and asked if Jakacka still works there, but received no answer. She is currently listed on the hospital website as an intern. Nobody from the facility wanted to comment on the incident.