Plenary meetings

Plenary meetings of the Committee in the term 2023-2026

Plenary meeting no. 6/2024 was held on November 28, 2024 (online). The scientific part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the current legislative proposals aimed at introducing into the Polish legal system the institution of a health care proxy and new support institutions for persons who are totally or relatively incapable of taking care of their own interests (instead of the institution of incapacitation). Dr. hab. Maria Boratyńska, a member of the Bioethics Committee and the Committee on Codification of Family and Guardianship Law, presented the current state of work on these changes. After hearing the introductory presentation, the Chairperson invited members of the Bioethics Committee to discuss whether and how the Committee could become involved in the ongoing legislative debates and activities. Members made suggestions in this regard.

Plenary meeting no. 5/2024 was held on October 16, 2024 in the Staszic Palace in Warsaw. The meeting was to be devoted to the ethical and legal challenges of regulating the institution of a health care proxy and advance directives. Unfortunately, due to the excused absence of the speaker, Dr. hab. Maria Boratyńska (member of the Committee and lecturer at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw), the agenda of the meeting was changed. The Chairperson of the Committee invited the participants to discuss the further work of the Committee, in particular the topics of future position papers and plans to organize next National Ethics Councils (NEC) Forum in Warsaw - within the framework of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union - in cooperation with the European Commission.

Plenary meeting no. 4/2024 was held on April 25, 2024 (online). The scientific part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the four drafts submitted to the Parliament on the regulation of abortion (and other reproductive health services). Dr. Joanna Różyńska, the Chairperson of the Committee, presented the drafts and invited the members of the Bioethics Committee to discuss, in particular, whether and how the Committee could participate in the ongoing public and political debates on the new regulation of abortion in Poland.

Plenary meeting no. 3/2023 was held on November 30, 2023 in the Staszic Palace in Warsaw (+ online). The scientific part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of legal, financial and infrastructural barriers to contraception in Poland. The introduction was given by Professor Eleonora Zielińska, a member of the Committee and a full professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion. The members of the Bioethics Committee decided to prepare a position paper on access to contraception in Poland.

Plenary meeting no. 2/2023 was held on June 29, 2023 (online). The scientific session was devoted to a discussion of the legal, social and medical consequences of the Constitutional Tribunal's ruling of October 22, 2020 on abortion (file K 1/20). Dr. Joanna Różyńska, Chairperson of the Committee, introduced the discussion. The Chairperson informed the audience of the problems reported to her by representatives of the medical community regarding the interpretation and application of the regulations in force in Poland on the permissibility of abortion and the need for their clear explication by the Committee. During the discussion, the members of the Bioethics Committee decided to prepare a a position paper explaining these issues.

Plenary meeting no. 1/2023 was held on March 28, 2023 in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. TheDirector of the Polish Academy of Sciences handed over appointment letters to all members of the Bioethics Committee for the term 2023-2026 as well as to a Chairperson of the Committee. The Chairperson run the elections of two Vice-Chairpersons and Scientific Secretary of the Committee, and presented the Committee work plan for the new term. The Committee unanimously nominated prof. Zbigniew Szawarski to serve as a Honorary Chairman of the body.

Plenary meetings of the Committee in the term 2019-2022

Plenary meeting no. 8/2021 was held on 28^th October 2021 (online). During the meeting the final version of the Committee Statement - Appeal to the authorities of the Republic of Poland to undertake decisive actions in the fight against the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, was developed.

Plenary meeting no. 7/2021 was held on 30^th June, 2021 (online). The Committee debated on legal and social consequences of the verdict of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal of 22nd October 2020 regarding illegality of the abortion on fetal abnormalities grounds. Introductory lectures were given by prof. Mirosław Wyrzykowski (retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal and prof. emeritus of the University of Warsaw) and adv. Kamila Ferenc (chief lawyer of the Federation for Women’s Rights and Family Planning).

Plenary meeting no. 6/2021 was held on 14^th April 2021 (online). The Committee discussed ethical and social problems, especially threats to scientific and academic freedom, raised by a proposal of the Act on the National Copernicus Programme. Prof. Zbigniew Szawarski – the Honorary Chairperson of the Bioethics Committee – gave an opening talk titled “In defense of open society”.

Plenary meeting no. 5/2020 was held on 16^th December 2020 (online). The session was dedicated to ethical and political dilemmas associated with the micro- and macroallocation of Covid-19 vaccines. Dr Katarzyna Bielińska-Kowalewska and Ms. Anna Chowaniec (Univeristy of Warsaw) provided an introdutory talks on Covid-19 vaccines as a global common good.

Plenary meeting no. 4/2020 was held on 25^th June 2020 (online). The Committee debated on various implications of Covid-19 pandemics for public health ethics, research ethics, and clinical ethics. Dr Joanna Różyńska (Chairperson of the Bioethics Committee) was a keynote speaker of the session.

Plenary meeting no. 3/2019 was held on 26^th November 2019, in the Staszic Palace in Warsaw. The meeting focused on ethical, social, and legal aspects of unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell "treatments" offered by some unscrupulous providers to most vulnerable Polish patients for profit. Prof. Józef Dulak and Prof. Marcin Waligóra (both from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow) presented scientific and ethical aspects of this practice. Mr. Marek Bilbin offered a patient’s perspective on this commercial activity of some dishonest and unscrupulous stem cell clinics.

Plenary meeting no. 2/2019 was held on 18^th June 2019, in the Staszic Palace in Warsaw. The Committee discussed on ethical and legal aspects of advance directives, including medical proxy, that are still not regulated in the Polish legal system. The plenary discussion was preceded by three introductory lectures given by members of the Bioethics Committees: dr Weronika Chańska (an ethicist from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow), dr hab. Maria Boratyńskia (a legal scholar from the University of Warsaw), and dr hab. Marek Czarkowski (a medical doctor and bioethicist from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw).

Plenary meeting no. 1/2019 was held on 3^rd April 2019 in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. The Deputy Director of the Polish Academy of Sciences, prof. Romuald Zabielski, handed over appointment letters to all members of the Bioethics Committee for the term 2019-2020 as well as to a new Chairperson of the Committee. The Chairperson run the elections of two Vice-Chairpersons and Scientific Secretary of the Committee, and presented the Committee work plan for the new term. The Committee unanimously nominated prof. Zbigniew Szawarski to serve as a Honorary Chairman of the body.