EUROPE
The Boar (publication of the University of Warwick, England)
February 7, 2021
By Nikki Siriprasert
The Polish Catholic Church and some of those who follow their teaching have a rather “interesting” take on sexuality. According to them, contraception is a serious sin, sexual education promotes paedophillia, gay rights movement is a “rainbow plague”, abortion should be banned even when the foetus is severely deformed, and of course, abstinence is the virtuous way to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Yet, along with preaching these “moral” codes, many priests and bishops sexually abuse young girls and boys, and those in charge choose to turn a blind eye on the issue. Many Polish people, especially the younger generation, sees through the church’s hypocrisy and views the teachings as impractical, harmful and hateful. The recent near-total abortion ban might well be the last straw for many Poles. Refusal to adapt to the younger generation might cost the church its authority and power in the long run.
Backed by the church, the Law and Justice party (PiS) has been pushing for a near-total ban on abortion since 2016. They want to criminalise the abortion of deformed foetuses, leaving legal only the cases of rape and incest and the cases where the women’s life and health is severely at risk. Jarosław Kaczyńsky, currently the leader of the PiS, made a vow to pursue this cause, saying that “We will strive to ensure that even cases of very difficult pregnancies, when the child is certain to die, very deformed, still end up in a birth, so that the child can be baptized, buried, have a name.”
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