A Catholic newspaper has been ordered to pay damages to a woman – who was denied an abortion in Poland – for claiming she wanted to kill her baby.

The publisher and editorial staff of Gosc Niedzielny, a Catholic weekly – based in the southern city of Katowice – will be forced to apologize to and pay damages to Alicja Tysiac to the tune of 30,000 zloty (7,200 euro), according to a ruling by Katowice courts.

Alicja Tysiac, mother of three, found that, several years ago, she was in danger of going blind if she carried another baby. Doctors refused to perform an abortion in accordance with Polish law which bans the procedure. Throughout the pregnancy, Tysiac tried in vain to get an abortion, but her plea was refused repeatedly and she had to carry the baby to term. After delivery, Tysiac almost lost her sight,  but national ophthalmology consultant Prof. Jerzy Szaflik said that was natural consequence of her disease. The woman filed a human rights violation claim against Poland in the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg and won 25,000 euro damages in 2007.

Ms. Tysiac sued the Catholic weekly Gosc Niedzielny for having written in a series of articles claiming that she attempted to kill her baby and received compensation for not having committed the deed. Tysiac maintains that the weekly unlawfully disrupted her life by publishing her photo and writing that she did not want her child.

The editor-in-chief of Gosc Niedzielny, Father Marek Gancarczyk said in court that the weekly felt obliged to take part in a nation-wide discussion on abortion. Gancarczyk added that, in his opinion, abortion means killing a baby. (mg/mmj)