Hundreds of Ukrainians are struggling to access safe abortion in Poland under draconian laws.
Historically hostile to refugees, the eastern European country has welcomed 2.9 million people – mostly women and children – fleeing Russia’s bloodshed in Ukraine which started on February 24.
But a near-total ban on terminations affecting tens of thousands of people in Poland every year is now proving yet another barrier refugees have to overcome.
Abortion Support Network (ASB) helped 267 Ukrainians from March 1 until April 19, sending them abortion pills or arranging transport to countries like Germany and the Netherlands for surgical terminations.
Since then, the number has ‘skyrocketed’, founder Mara Clarke told Metro.co.uk, adding the organisation is working on up-to-date data.
‘To give you some perspective, we hear from about 550 people every month on our Polish helpline,’ she said.
‘So, that is a lot of people, who have identified as having fled Ukraine, contacting us in just a few weeks.
‘The majority of them have been early enough in their pregnancy that we have been able to get them pills.
‘There are people residing in closed facilities like a refugee centre where they don’t necessarily have private access to post, which also might be getting searched.
‘We have had to come up with some creative solutions for getting people the abortion pills they need.
‘We have also already seen about 10 people needing to travel abroad [for terminations].
‘As time goes on, there will be more and more people who need to access abortions later and later in their pregnancy.
‘Call me back in three weeks and the number would be much bigger. We are terrified.’
ASB was launched in Poland in December 2019, helping people with finances, travel and accommodation to access an abortion.
New restrictions came into force in January last year, which banned terminations except in cases of sexual assault, incest or if the mum’s life is at risk.
Even under those exemptions, access to abortion can still be difficult in the country where the Catholic Church yields enormous influence over social life.
In what Ms Clarke described as a ‘traumatising’ and ‘stigmatising’ process, rape victims have to open a criminal case and obtain a letter from a prosecutor to get a termination.
‘We had a woman who had a brain aneurysm and her doctor told her it would be too dangerous to travel to get an abortion,’ she said, giving another example of the Polish system. ‘But giving birth would be fine?’
In 2019, between 95% and 98% of abortions were carried out because of foetal abnormalities, meaning that the ruling banned the vast majority of pregnancy terminations.
Because of shame and trauma, many Ukrainians do not know who to turn to for medical help, which is readily available in their homeland.
Anti-abortion activists in Poland have also targeted those in need with websites in Ukrainian and Russian falsely claiming to sell pills for cryptocurrency – so ASB had to quickly intervene.
Despite many Poles being pro-choice, if caught assisting a refugee with an abortion, they would face criminal charges.
Ms Clarke said: ‘This is the terrifying thing – we can send pills to anyone but that person needs an address.
‘So, good Samaritans – people who are showing compassion and kindness – are also putting themselves at criminal risk. We really need this to hit home.
‘The Polish government has shown they’re not playing. They will criminally charge somebody for compassion, for the crime of saying, “Yes, I will help somebody.”‘
The network has already received calls from concerned Polish families wanting to arrange abortions for their guests, Ms Clarke confirmed.
While ASB does not record the reasons people want to terminate a pregnancy or whether they have sought care elsewhere, there are fears many sexual assault victims are struggling to access help.
Last month, Ukrainian authorities alleged multiple women were raped during Russia’s occupation of Bucha, with nine of them becoming pregnant.
Refugees in other eastern European countries like Hungary and Romania have also reported facing medical obstruction.
Ms Clarke said: ‘Romania has a very anti-abortion push and there were quite a few reports during Covid-19 about how the government was using the pandemic to further restrict access to abortion.
‘We know that when you try to get an abortion in Romania you can face a lot of obstruction and a lot of people are forced to go private because they can’t find a provider who will do the procedure.
‘Hungary is even worse. To get an abortion you need to go to the doctor five times.
‘So, you need have two mandatory counselling sessions one week apart, but you need to go to the first one with an ultrasound. So, first you have to go ask for an ultrasound.
‘Then you get the ultrasound, you go to the first appointment, then you go to the second appointment and then the fifth appointment is the actual abortion.
‘This is provided you can find somebody who will do an abortion. Because the legal limit of abortion in Hungary is 12 weeks, if you’re over 10 weeks when you start the process, they’ll tell you that you’re too late.
‘Sometimes even if you start the process earlier, they will turn you away. They’ll stand in your way and purposely delay you.’
Some of the first people to contact ASB after the war began and millions were displaced in eastern Europe were refugees from the Roma community.
After fleeing to Hungary, one woman who was six weeks’ pregnant tried to access an abortion, but was delayed until her 13th week when the network intervened.
‘As time goes by not only will people be later in pregnancy but they will also be more and more vulnerable,’ Ms Clarke added.
Last year, Abortion Without Borders – which ASB is a part of – saw a five-fold increase in requests for help, contacted by 32,888 people.
Cost for each termination ranges from £400 to more than £2,000, depending on how advanced the pregnancy is.
If you would like to donate to Abortion Support Network to help the work they do, visit this website.
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