I’ll say it plainly – the situation is dramatic. In the history of the Third Polish Republic, the protection of life has never been as bad as it is today! This year – by government order, with public funds, in violation of Poland’s law and Constitution – more unborn children are being killed in Poland.
The Tusk government’s unlawful guidelines are killing unborn Poles.
When, in mid-2024, the government lost the votes on the proposed abortion bills, the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna, issued unlawful guidelines recommending that hospitals murder Poles in their mothers’ wombs on the basis of certificates from psychiatrists about a broadly interpreted threat to mental health.
Since then, in practice, the situation in Poland is close to a de-facto legalization of abortion “on demand.” Even “threats to the mother’s health and life,” such as… adjustment disorders associated with taking on a new role in life, can serve as a pretext for abortion up to the moment of birth.
No wonder that, even among psychiatrists, the government’s guidelines have sparked protests—although many have no qualms about pocketing blood money for “referrals to death.” You can get certificates during an e-visit – after a perfunctory interview, but for a hefty fee. Moreover, the Polish health ministry has prohibited hospitals from challenging even obviously baseless medical certificates.
The EU-backed Tusk government is trying to break doctors’ consciences
At the same time, the government and the National Health Fund (NFZ) consistently violate the consciences of doctors who are faithful to the mission of defending life. After all, many doctors don’t want to be complicit in mass murder. To crush any resistance, Poland’s left-liberal government imposes draconian financial penalties on hospitals where doctors refuse to poison, dismember, or suffocate babies during a forced premature delivery.
Since December 13, 2023, Ordo Iuris has been waging an uphill battle against the government-run industry of abortion propaganda and pressure. We are working to prevent Poland from repeating the scenario seen in countries such as in the United Kingdom, where hundreds of thousands of children are killed in hospitals every year — specifically on the grounds of “threat to mental health!”
Will Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal stand up in defense of life?
First, government lawlessness and mass killing can be stopped by a ruling of the country’s Constitutional Tribunal. Admittedly, the “guidelines” are not a legal act, but the Constitutional Tribunal has in the past reviewed acts of state authorities that purported to be sources of binding law. It can also do it this time.
Therefore, our team, working with a group of constitutional law experts, has prepared a petition to the Constitutional Tribunal seeking a declaration that both the guidelines themselves and the pro-abortion interpretation of the legal provisions adopted therein are inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. I am aware that today those in power are ignoring the Constitutional Tribunal’s rulings. However, hospitals and doctors, as well as NFZ officials, will not be so eager to comply with orders that have been unequivocally deemed unconstitutional. Because soon, after the fall of this government, they will be held accountable for this—disciplinarily, criminally, and financially.
We have already forwarded to the First President of the Supreme Court, Prof. Małgorzata Manowska—as the entity with standing to file an application with the Tribunal, the draft application to the Constitutional Tribunal that we prepared. Although the First President of the Supreme Court stated that the document prepared by the Ministry of Health is unlawful and that “the indications set out therein do not create legal obligations for either doctors or healthcare entities,” she nevertheless… refused to initiate proceedings before the Constitutional Tribunal.
Our hope now is the President of the Republic of Poland, who “ensures observance of the Constitution.” He can also submit an application to the Constitutional Tribunal. Therefore, this week the draft motion has already been submitted to the President’s Chancellery. I hope we can persuade Karol Nawrocki, who, during the election campaign, declared his commitment to the protection of life and the rule of law, to take the necessary steps in this matter.
Let’s punish those in power who break the law.
Secondly, the fight against the lawlessness of mass killing must be waged at many levels. Opposing the unlawful guidelines, we filed a report with the prosecutor’s office regarding the possible commission of a crime by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and former Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna. In the “guidelines” document masquerading as a legal act, they not only unlawfully expanded the grounds for the permissibility of killing a child to include vague situations of mental health risk, but also launched a campaign of coercion against doctors and hospitals to compel them to perform illegal abortions.
By doing so, Poland’s Ministry of Health is breaking the law on many levels. An administrative court has already ruled, following our complaint, that the Minister of Health violated the law on access to public information by failing to respond to our request to disclose documents related to the preparation of the “guidelines.”
We tell medical professionals how to exercise freedom of conscience
Third, we are focusing our efforts on reaching doctors directly. We have launched a large-scale public campaign about the conscience clause, distributing to medical professionals our guides for physicians and other healthcare workers, as well as instructions for nurses and midwives, in which we explain how they can practically make use of the “conscience clause”. Not a week goes by without us providing legal assistance to doctors, midwives, or nurses. We also guarantee them legal representation should they face further repression.
And there are many honest doctors in Poland. Some psychiatrists affiliated with the Polish Psychiatric Association (PTP) published a scientific paper in which they opposed the ministerial guidelines and the position of the PTP Board. Those psychiatrists emphasize that abortion cannot be considered a therapeutic intervention in psychiatry, and that the government guidelines and PTP’s official position were not based on any scientific evidence.
Many hospitals have already received our guide, which explains how medical facilities can defend themselves against unlawful ministerial guidelines and NFZ penalties imposed for refusing to perform an abortion. We will soon also publish an analysis on the possibility for certain healthcare institutions to invoke the so-called institutional conscience clause, that is, one that covers the facility as such along with everyone working in it.
We debunk the lies and manipulations of abortionists.
Fourthly, we counter the abortionists’ propaganda with concrete data from the latest scientific studies on the harmful effects of abortion pills, which cause complications as much as 22 times more often than their manufacturers claim. Research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center from 2017-2023 so shocked America that the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, announced a full review of the safety of the abortion drug’s use.
Fifth, we support entire families and single mothers, who, in the eyes of abortion movements, are merely recipients of the propaganda of death. Our guide about the help available for parents expecting a child who is ill and requires special support is distributed in homes for single mothers, in hospitals, and through partner hospices. Thanks to us, insurers can no longer hide behind clauses in the General Terms and Conditions of Insurance that disregarded the dignity of the unborn child.
And very soon, we will launch an entirely new large-scale initiative. We intend to reform the Polish framework for conducting adoption procedures. Adoption should be a process that is welcoming to all families who want to share their hearts with a child in need of love. For the past year, we have been conducting research that will soon develop into a concrete proposal for families and children.
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