A girl with a severe mental disability was refused an abortion in Poland after being raped by her uncle.
The 14-year-old's cognitive impairment was so severe that she didn't even understand the concept of pregnancy, reports say.
The ultra-conservative Catholic country has some of the strictest abortion laws on the continent and individual doctors can legally refuse to perform the procedure under an ethical "conscience clause".
In Poland, terminations are only legal if the foetus is a product of rape or incest, or when the woman's health is at risk.
But despite the fact they could perform it and reduce the youngster's suffering, two regional hospitals turned her away despite it being clear she had suffered horrendous abuse, which is illegal.
The doctors in Podlasie, around two hours north-east of Warsaw by car, also failed to tell her where she could go for the treatment.
Her aunt, who took her to hospital with a prosecutorial document confirming a rape had taken place, says they were treated "brutally and inhumanely" by the cruel doctors.
On asking for treatment, she claims to have been told: "Not here, go away. We don't know where. It's none of our concern."
Thankfully, the aunt contacted a women's reproductive rights organisation called Federa. They arranged for the young girl to be taken to Warsaw where doctors performed a safe and successful abortion
Federa said in a statement: "Warsaw doctors couldn't understand the conduct of the doctors from Podlasie.
"No empathy is an understatement.
"We have no words of indignation at such treatment."
Federa's concerns were echoed throughout the devout nation.
Despite being 92 per cent Catholic and extremely religious, Poles were outraged by the lack of empathy displayed in Podalsie, especially when the abortion was legal and would've protected the disabled child.
Interior Minister Wojciech Andrusiewicz told Polish outlet TVN: "Such an abortion should either be carried out or they should indicate a place where such an abortion can be carried out, so the hospital acted against the statuary provisions."
Gynecologist and Supreme Medical Chamber member Dr Artur Plachta told Fakty: "I am ashamed of them because they did not help the child.
"This child suffered two dramas: she was raped by someone, even the closest person, and now she received a third 'gift' from her medical colleagues: she was not helped."
In Poland, some doctors can invoke a "conscience clause" and refuse to perform the procedure. However, it's not permitted for an entire hospital to do so, according to the commissioner for patients' rights.
The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party rose to power in Warsaw in 2015 on a campaign promising to uphold the country's Catholic traditions. Part of this included the tightening of abortion laws in 2020, banning the termination of malfored fetuses.
But the move has not been without its opponents. Huge protests broke out in 2020 as 100,000 demonstrators took to the streets as the new laws were ushered in. Opposition politicians are also calling for reform.
Aleksandra Gajewska MP said: "This draconian law and climate of intimidation, falsely understood as defence of life, which applies only to the fetus and does not apply to the mother in any way, allowed doctors in hospitals in Podlasie to refuse to help a 14-year-old girl."
Katarzyna Kotula, an MP from the left-wing Lewica party, added: "The conscience clause is a barbaric and inhumane law repeatedly exploited by doctors. It should be abolished."
"Young girls are suffering because of your stupid laws," said Paweł Krutul, an MP from Podlasie.
"See what fate you have prepared for Polish women. It's a disgrace."