Marcin Dubieniecki, lawyer of the late child's mother. Photo: PAP/Pawel Supernak
Marcin Dubienecki, lawyer of the child's mother, confirmed that the baby – which had serious brain defects – had been born in Warsaw's Bielanski Hospital on 30 June.
“On behalf of my client, I am passing on the information that the child 'whose life was saved' by Professor Chazan died at 8.35 pm [on Wednesday],” he told the TVN24 news channel.
“The child was in a very serious condition.
“All of the arguments that the child should never have been born proved correct,” he claimed.
Professor Bogdan Chazan, the head of Warsaw's Holy Family Hospital, had refused to abort the baby despite evidence that the foetus was damaged.
He cited the 'conscience clause' in Polish law, but he failed to refer the mother to another clinic, as the law requires.
The mother claims that Professor Chazan dragged his heels in the process so that she would not be able to carry out the abortion elsewhere within 25 weeks of the conception.
Poland's laws permit an abortion if a woman's life or health is jeopardised by the continuation of a pregnancy, if the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act such as rape, or if the foetus is seriously malformed. However, the abortion must be carried out in the first 25 weeks of the pregnancy.
Earlier on Wednesday, Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz had announced that Professor Chazan, who is currently on holiday, would be dismissed from his post. The hospital had already been fined 70,000 zloty for failing to refer the woman to another clinic.
The Roman Catholic Church has steadfastly defended Professor Chazan since the case came to light.
Shortly after the mayor's announcement on Wednesday, Archbishop of Warsaw Cardinal Nycz declared that he was “deeply disturbed” by her decision, and that the professor should not have been punished. (nh)