The regulation introducing the ‘Pregnancy Register’ has been signed by the Minister of Health and will enter into force later in 2022.

The creation of the draft regulation on the detailed scope of data on medical events to be processed in the information system and the manner and time limits for transferring such data to the Medical Information System is controversial, primarily in connection with the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling restricting the right to abortion, in which the tribunal stated that the provision allowing abortion in case of a high probability of a severe and irreversible fetal defect was unconstitutional.

As a result, there are doubts as to whether the state aims to increase the health protection, or its control over the society.

The regulation specifies the range of data collected by medical personnel (which is to be expanded to include, among other things, information on allergies, blood group and pregnancy) and defines the principles of transferring it.

What does the introduction of the pregnancy register mean?

As a result of the introduction of the electronic pregnancy register, the healthcare providers will transfer:

• information on confirmed blood group results, if the healthcare provider obtains it in connection with the provision of a healthcare service or carrying out an essential medical procedure,
• information on medical devices, allergies and pregnancy, if the healthcare provider obtains it in connection with the provision of a healthcare service or carrying out an essential medical procedure.

Who has access to the register?

The expansion of the range of collected data is to translate to better availability of the information transferred to the Medical Information System, which will improve doctors’ work, facilitate the circulation of medical records and reduce the costs of accessing them.

As the Ministry assures, only selected medical personnel will have access to the information stored in the system, and in any other situation, in order to read information concerning a given person, the data subject’s consent will be required. In addition, the Ministry of Health explains that the power of the courts or the prosecutor’s offices to demand access to the information contained in the MIS cannot be exercised arbitrarily, but only in accordance with the applicable law, thus only under pending proceedings.

However, it is impossible not to notice that the Pregnancy Register will increase interference with the private lives of patients. Therefore, the register may be abused. It should be noted that according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, judges and prosecutors, for example, have access to medical records. What is more, if information about the patient’s pregnancy is stored in the MIS, an easier access to the information will be obtained and it will be possible to use this data on a large scale.

It should also be stressed that due to the collection of pregnancy data, patients may be less prone to use medical assistance and plan pregnancy.