Activist Justyna Wydrzyńska sentenced by court for providing abortion pills

Along with Malta, Poland's anti-abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe, allowing for termination only in the event of incest, rape or a risk to the mother's health. Helping a woman obtain an abortion is also illegal.

Wydrzyńska said in court that she had sent pills to a woman who was a victim of domestic violence, according to the Facebook page of the pressure group Abortion Dream Team, of which she is a member.

The woman had called an abortion line asking for help with terminating her pregnancy. Activists referred Wydrzyńska to the case, after which she mailed drugs she already had at home to her. When the woman's partner found out, he called the police, who intercepted the pills.

"The pills which I had for my personal use and which I had sent to Ania are the safest way to terminate a pregnancy in Poland at the moment," Wydrzyńska was quoted saying by the pressure group.

"I didn't want Ania to risk her life by taking dangerous steps since a solution is so easy and medically safe."

Wydrzyńska also stressed before the court that she felt innocent. "I say it out loud: the state if guilty of failing me, Anna, Iza from Pszczyna, Agnieszka from Częstochowa, and millions of women in this country," she said, asking for an acquittal.

Rights group Amnesty International and campaigners say the case is the first of its kind in Europe.

"Her prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for the targeting of human rights defenders in Poland who are working to advance reproductive rights and challenge Poland’s de facto ban on abortion," Keina Yoshida, Senior Legal Adviser at the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement.