The Polish Government has defended a decision that medics should record whether a patient is pregnant against pro-choice criticism. Under a regulation signed by the Polish Health Minister on Friday, medical personnel will collect additional data from patients from October, including information on allergies, blood group as well as pregnancy, explained Health Ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusewicz.
Women’s rights activists and opposition politicians have criticised the move, calling it the creation of a “pregnancy register”, and said it could be misused by a government that has expanded the country’s extensive pro-life laws.
Andrusewicz, however, rejected such criticism. “We are not creating any register, but only expanding the reporting system based on European Commission recommendations,” he said, noting that work on preparing the guidelines was concluded in 2013, when Civic Platform (PO), now the largest opposition party, was in power.
He added that it is part of moves to align Poland with other European Union states as part of the International Patient Summary, which is set to operate from next year.
“Its implementation is obligatory for all EU states,” he noted. “Including pregnancy…is absolutely justified considering the importance of this information in terms of the healthcare process.”
