Irish Examiner view: Unbending abortion laws penalise women

One woman dies unnecessarily in Poland and another is jailed in England — two cases that highlight how overly-restrictive abortion laws can cause unintended suffering

Women participating in a vigil for 33-year-old Dorota Lalik who died in the John Paul II Hospital in Nowy Targ, Poland. Picture: Markus Schreiber/AP 

Abortion rights globally are under consistent pressure for a variety of reasons, be they legal, political, moral, or otherwise, but recent prominent cases have brought to the fore the minefield women who need to terminate a pregnancy now face, as well as the challenges posed to many countries by overly restrictive legislation.

The death of Dorota Lalik in a hospital in Nowy Targ, Poland, last month sparked mass demonstrations across the country after it was revealed the 33-year-old’s could have survived if the John Paul II Hospital had told her that her life could be saved if she had an abortion.