I Shared My Pills. Her Controlling Boyfriend Reported us to Police

My journey into activism began with my own experience. In 2006, I found myself in an unwanted pregnancy and decided to terminate it using pills.

I quickly realized that there was a lack of proper information on the Polish internet about how to order abortion pills and what happens when you take them. So, I started sharing my own story with others who were seeking information.

My knowledge about abortions and the number of people needing support grew as I continued to share my story in Poland. I was an engineer working for a large company until 2020, when I left my job to become a full-time abortion activist.

Now, I work for a foundation that pays me a salary, allowing me to spend my entire day working on abortion-related matters.

In February 2020, I was contacted by a woman who needed help. She was living with a partner who controlled every aspect of her life, from the images she sent and received to her computer browsing history.

As someone who had lived in similar conditions before, I knew there was more to her situation than just control. I knew that this man was controlling all of her internet activity and also her phone. He was controlling who she was calling and writing to.

She realized she was pregnant and had ordered abortion pills online, but they were delayed, possibly due to the pandemic. Knowing how the law works in Poland and the potential problems with delivering packages containing abortion pills, I decided to share my own pills with her.

I did this not expecting that her partner would report us both to the police.

The legal situation in Poland is complex. Legal abortions in a hospital are only permitted for two reasons: Sexual violence and when your life or health is at risk. The situation with abortion pills and self-managed abortions is not regulated, which means it’s technically legal. However, anyone who assists you can also be punished.

I was charged with two offenses: Helping with an abortion and distributing abortion pills without the proper license. I was only convicted on the first charge. The judge’s verdict was: “She’s guilty of helping.”

It was a very strange situation, and from the moment the trial started, I knew it would be a highly political case with significant political influence on the verdict.

This wasn’t the first case of its kind in Poland. There have been many instances where family members and friends have been reported and charged with aiding and abetting an abortion. However, my case was unique.

For the first time, charges and a conviction were brought against two people who didn’t know each other.

The law doesn’t explicitly state that people who take you to clinics or share abortion pills can be punished. But some judges interpret the law to include these situations. As an abortion activist, I disagree with this interpretation.

In my opinion, there’s a difference between helping someone have an abortion and giving them the tools to do it themselves. In my case, the abortion wasn’t performed because the police took the pills. Yet, I was still punished.

I knew I would be found guilty, but the question was what the sentence would be. There was a risk that I would be given a jail sentence to make an example of me. But because the case was postponed due to witnesses not showing up, the verdict was given in an election year.

It would have been risky for the anti-abortion politicians in government to give me a jail sentence, as it would have made me a victim and could have led to them losing more seats in the Polish parliament.

As a result, I was sentenced to eight months of social control, which involves 30 hours of social service each month. This conviction will be on my criminal record, pending the decision of the court of appeal.

The entire situation left me feeling angry and hurt. The way the judge behaved, her lack of understanding about domestic violence, the stigmatization of abortion, and the impact of the political situation on individuals’ lives all contributed to my feelings of anger.

I was particularly upset by the way she judged people based on their appearance and their jobs.

After receiving the conviction, I completed my social service. I had been helping people since 2006, and I felt that this service should have been taken into account in my conviction. I was doing what my government failed to do.

Even now, under the decision of the Constitutional Court, we are helping those who could have gotten abortions in hospitals before the decision.

I don’t feel guilty for helping another person. It’s not something I should be ashamed of, especially in a country like Poland where there is no access to abortion.

The woman I shared the pills with could have gotten a legal abortion in the hospital. She had asked for it. She was devastated and her mental and physical health was in a very bad state.

She had asked the hospital for an abortion because of her mental and physical health, but the doctors refused. This refusal is part of the reason why I continue to fight for women’s rights and access to safe abortions.

After the police took the pills, the woman decided to take matters into her own hands.

She bought a Foley catheter from a pharmacy and used it on herself in her bathroom. It fell out a few times and she put it back in for three weeks. This led to a severe infection, and she ended up in the hospital at the last moment, narrowly escaping death.

It was a twin pregnancy, and she delivered the fetuses in the corridor of the hospital. The infection was severe, but she survived. If I would have given her those pills successfully, she would have had a safe abortion. We have since become friends and she is now happy.

Despite the challenges, I continue to fight for women’s rights and access to safe abortions.

Justyna Wydrzyńska is a Polish abortion-rights activist. Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign helps transform the lives of people like Justyna whose rights have been wronged.

All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

As told to Newsweek’s associate editor, Carine Harb.

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