Prof. Bogdan Chazan, a gynecologist who recently became the central figure in a heated pro-life vs. pro-choice dispute, was dismissed as the director of the Holy Family Hospital in Warsaw June 21.
Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz fired Chazan after the media revealed that, citing a “conflict of conscience,” Chazan had refused to perform an abortion on a patient despite clear medical indications.
The patient had requested an abortion after the child she was carrying was diagnosed with severe health problems, including deformities of the head and face.
Under Polish law, a doctor who refuses to perform an abortion in such cases must refer the patient to another doctor or a medical establishment where she can have the pregnancy terminated.
Chazan did not do that. He said that doing so would have made him an “accessory to an abortion.” [Full text]