A Polish Catholic anti-abortion doctor who moved to Norway because of the paucity of doctors, then was fired for her pro-life views, won her case in court, winning roughly $72,000 from the municipality that terminated her job.
Katarzyna Jachimowicz moved with her family to the municipality of Sauherad in 2010. Her employers initially accepted that she would not refer for abortions or implant intrauterine devices (IUDs). IUDs can be utilized as abortifacients.
“Life begins at conception and I did not want to take part in destroying it,” she told doctors and local authorities who hired her. “All present agreed to my conditions, but I did not ask for written confirmation, knowing that an oral agreement is valid as well.”
For the first four years, there were no problems, but in 2015, the Norwegian Government made it illegal for doctors to refuse any form of birth control. The Norwegian government does not view IUDs as possible abortifacients.
Jachimowicz could have taken the easy way out, insisting that family doctors could refuse to insert IUDs because they did not know how to insert them properly, but she refused to lie, instead relying on her opposition to abortion. That prompted an order for her to either comply with the law or quit, but she refused. She told deon.pl, “I never asked for this. I simply wanted to be a regular family doctor. I found myself with a choice and couldn’t act differently.”
Jachimowicz was fired in 2015.
Those events triggered a lawsuit from Jachimowicz in which she argued that her rights were violated and that her dismissal was illegal, but she lost the case in February. But now, the court of appeals in Skien ruled for her, reversing the previous decision.
According to a Polish news source, the municipality of Sauherad has decided to appeal the decision; the case may be heard in the European Court of Human Rights.