Polish Appeals Court Orders Retrial in Activist's Abortion-Aiding Case

The court overturned the 2023 conviction of Justyna Wydrzyńska, citing concerns over judicial impartiality, as Poland's restrictive abortion laws remain under scrutiny.

• Justyna Wydrzyńska, a women's rights activist, was convicted in 2023 for aiding a woman in accessing abortion pills and sentenced to eight months of community service.
• Poland's Warsaw Appeals Court annulled the conviction, citing doubts over the impartiality of the judge who presided over the original trial.
• The retrial decision highlights ongoing tensions around Poland's near-total abortion ban, which criminalizes abortion assistance but not self-managed abortions.
• Poland's abortion laws allow termination only in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life or health of the pregnant person, among the strictest in Europe.
• Efforts to relax abortion laws have stalled in Poland's parliament, with proposed reforms delayed until after the upcoming presidential election in May.

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