Natalia Broniarczyk

Natalia Broniarczyk (born 1983/1984)[1] is a Polish abortion rights activist. She is a member of Abortion Dream Team (pl: Aborcyjny Dream Team),[2] which formed in October 2016 to help women in Poland to source and safely take abortion pills.[3]

Career

Prior to joining the Aborton Dream Team, Broniarczyk worked at the Federation for Women and Family Planning, the country's largest reproductive rights non-profit, as a sex educator.[3]

Broniarczyk is a researcher on self-managed abortion and its history.[3]

Activism

Broniarczyk was first made aware of the obstacles surrounding self-managed medical abortion when she herself needed an abortion in 2011.[3] While looking for answers to her questions about how to induce a medical abortion and how to care for herself afterward, she met Justyna Wydrzyńska, who would go on to be another member of the Abortion Dream Team.[3]

As part of the Abortion Dream Team, Broniarczyk provides women with information on how to find abortion pills, and also helps women who go abroad to have abortions in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.[1][2] She runs the organization's TikTok page, where she makes educational videos on self-managed medical abortion.[4]

In October 2020, Broniarczyk participated in protests after the Polish Constitutional Tribunal struck down a section of the law on abortion that allowed aborton in the case of "severe foetal anomalies".[1]

In June 2022, when the Sejm introduced a bill allowing abortions for any reasons up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, Broniarczyk gave a speech in favor of the bill, during which she described how to induce abortion with medication.[5]

Awards and recognition

In October 2023, Broniarczyk received an award from the European Union for her work on abortion rights.[6]

References

1. "Polish pro-choice campaigner helps women bypass abortion law". France 24. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
2. Ptak, Alicja (2020-03-21). "Abortion activists in Poland fret as coronavirus curbs access". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
3. "Meet Poland's Abortion Dream Team". Harper's BAZAAR. 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
4. Lott-Lavigna, Ruby (2022-06-16). "She Sent a Woman Abortion Pills. Now She Faces 3 Years in Prison". Vice. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
5. Jastrzębska, Anna (June 23, 2022). "„Legalna aborcja. Bez kompromisów": projekt trafił do Sejmu. Natalia Broniarczyk z mównicy poinstruowała, jak zrobić aborcję w domu". Glamour Poland. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
6. Schmitz, Rob (October 21, 2023). "As Europe applauds Poland's election results, civil rights groups prepare to fight". NPR.