Matic resolution: Polish Bishops, “abortion is always a violation of the fundamental right to life”

“We call on all MEPs to vote against the resolution on the right to abortion as a human right”, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznań, president of the Polish Bishops and vice-president of CCEE, said in a statement ahead of the plenary session which should back the report “on the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health” (Matić Report). The prelate denounced the authors of the document for allegedly “reporting false information regarding the defence of life in Poland” and for “wrongly” presenting “the notion of reproductive and sexual rights as a binding international commitment and human rights element”. “Abortion is always a violation of the fundamental right to life and is all the more repugnant as it affects the life of the weakest and most defenceless of human beings”, Mgr. Gądecki wrote, stressing that “the legalization of abortion deeply deforms our entire social life”. The vice-president of CCEE went on to remark that the authors of the Matić Report “also deny another fundamental right, namely the right to freedom of conscience”. This latter right, which also applies to medical personnel, “is enshrined in the Constitutions of many EU Member States”, the Archbishop of Poznań noted, before ending his statement by reminding Catholic MEPs that they cannot compromise when it comes to “documents that are contrary to fundamental human rights and non-negotiable values”.
Anna T. Kowalewska