Poland: The Church recalls the Fifth Commandment of the Decalogue: “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
On March 30, 2016, Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki, archbishop of Poznan and president of the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP), called for abortion to be completely forbidden in the country. The Polish law passed in 1993 forbids abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, danger of death for the mother or a serious deformity in the fetus. “On this 1050th anniversary of the baptism of Poland,” the Polish bishops had the KEP’s statement read in all the country’s parishes on Sunday, April 3; it declares, “when it comes to protecting the life of the unborn child, we cannot remain in the present state of compromise,” for “the position of Catholics is clear and unchangeable: every human being must be protected from the moment of his conception to the moment of his natural death.”
A bill submitted to parliament during the month of March is currently being reviewed. This legislative text does not suggest that abortion be completely forbidden, but only that it be authorized only in the case of mortal danger for the mother. The bill asks that persons participating in an illegal abortion be punished with five years of prison, rather than the maximum of two years currently in effect.
(sources: apic/kep – DICI no.335 May 6, 2016)
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