The current president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, considers it necessary to introduce into the Polish Constitution a provision prohibiting the adoption of children by same-sex couples. On July 4, he publicly announced this initiative. Explaining his step, he said:
I have decided that the constitutional norms on child protection need to be improved in one aspect. The child is subject to special protection and this is clearly determined by the provisions of the Constitution in Article 72. The child is also subject to protection by the state. This special protection takes place when the parents are deprived of parental authority, when – in short – this parental authority in some sense passes to the Polish state and the Polish state is responsible for the way in which this parental authority is exercised, because the child is then fully under the care of the Polish state.
These are children who can be given under care, or they can also be adopted. And here one doubt could be raised. Because as it’s said in our law that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman, so if the spouses want to take a child under care or, if they prefer, to adopt of a child, then here is no problem. There is no concern that the marriage will be a same-sex marriage, because this is definitely excluded by the Polish Constitution, but there are other possible cases, so I believe that the Polish Constitution should define expressis verbis that the takin a child under care or adoption of a child by a person who is in a one-sex relationship is precluded.
For the safety of the child, for its proper upbringing, for the protection of the rights of the child and for the protection of the welfare of the child by the Polish state , such a provision should, in my opinion, exist, and at this point it is the responsibility of the state to whom the child is entrusted for upbringing, and that is why I decided to propose to the parliamentarians to introduce such a provision. On Monday I will sign an appropriate document with a legislative proposal, i.e. the presidential draft of the Constitution amendment, which will be submitted to the Polish Sejm [lower chamber of the Polish Parliament – IFN].
Article 72 of the Polish Constitution currently establishes that “the Republic of Poland shall ensure protection of the rights of the child”, while “a child deprived of parental care shall have the right to care and assistance provided by public authorities”. For making amendments to the Constitution, the relevant law must be approved by 2/3 of the votes of the deputies of the Sejm and by an absolute majority of members of the Senate of Poland.
On Monday, July 6th the legislative proposal signed by the President was introduced to the parliament. Duda suggested to add to Article 72 of the Polish Constitution the following paragraph: “The child can only be adopted for his/her good. Only spouses can adopt together. Adoption by a person in same-sex cohabitation is prohibited”.
At present, presidential elections are being held in Poland, and Duda and his main opponent Rafał Trzaskowski have both made it to the second round. Commenting on the proposal of his rival, Trzaskowski said: “I am against the adoption of children by single-sex couples and I think that is the position of most political parties.” He added that he agreed on this particular matter with the current president.
It should be noted that last year Trzaskowski signed the declaration Warsaw City Policy for the LGBT+ Community, developed by several LGBT organizations. In this controversial document, he promised to introduce new measures to combat “homophobia and transphobia”, to provide “anti-discrimination and sexual education in schools in accordance with WHO standards”, to support LGBT-friendly employers, to establish a “LGBT Cultural and Community Center” in Warsaw, as well as to officially act as a patron of the Warsaw Gay Parade and to create the position of “Warsaw President’s Representative for LGBT+ Community Affairs”.
As for President Duda, he signed the “Family Card” (or “Family Charter”) as part of his campaign, promising voters to support the rights of parents, to prevent the adoption of children by same-sex couples and to protect them from indoctrination by “LGBT ideology” in schools.
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