A Polish court sentenced two doctors to prison Thursday and handed a third a suspended jail term for their roles in the 2021 death of a pregnant woman who was denied an abortion.

The District Court in Pszczyna found the doctors guilty of endangering the life of a 30-year-old woman, identified only as Izabela, reported Polskie Radio24, in a case that triggered nationwide protests and renewed scrutiny of Poland’s restrictive abortion laws.

Andrzej P. was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison and a six-year professional ban. Michał M., who was on duty when Izabela was admitted, was sentenced to 15 months in prison without parole and banned from practicing for six years.

Krzysztof P., who was acting head of the hospital’s gynecology department, received a one-year suspended sentence, a four-year ban, a fine and was ordered to issue a formal apology.

The verdict may be appealed.

Izabela was hospitalized in her 22nd week of pregnancy after her amniotic fluid broke. Doctors confirmed fetal defects but delayed terminating the pregnancy. According to her family, they waited for the fetus to die before acting. Izabela died less than 24 hours later of septic shock.

The hospital said all medical decisions were made in line with Polish law and safety protocols.

Her death was the first widely reported case linked to a 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that removed fetal abnormalities as legal grounds for abortion. Current law permits abortion only in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life.

The ruling led to mass protests under the slogan “Not one more,” as rights groups warned that fear of prosecution is deterring doctors from intervening in critical cases.

The incumbent ruling coalition promised to ease Poland’s abortion rules but lacks the internal majority to pass relevant legislation — even if it were something conservative President Andrzej Duda would reject.

Prospects for change are equally dim under the incoming new President Karol Nawrocki, who hails from the same conservative camp led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party. The 2020 ruling happened while PiS was in power and is widely considered a factor in the party’s losing the parliamentary election in 2023.