Poland: Archbishop Gadecki Warns MPs Who Would Vote for Abortion

The statement comes after Poland's main opposition parties – most of whose leaders are practicing Catholics – voiced support for lifting the near-total ban on abortion, a prohibition which has the backing of the Church.

“Human life is sacred and inviolable in all its dimensions and conditions,” said Msgr. Gądecki, Archbishop of Poznań and President of the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP), during the annual March for Life and Family.

However, this “right to life is now more often threatened by economic interests,” the prelate warned.

“A law that violates a child's natural right to life is unjust,” he continued. And he warned: “Any MP who votes against life commits a grave sin and therefore cannot receive Holy Communion.”

In 2020, the Polish Constitutional Court (TK) issued a ruling protecting the lives of unborn children by banning abortions in cases with indications of severe congenital malformations of the fetus, which previously accounted for 98% of legal abortions in Poland.

Abortion is now only allowed under two circumstances: when the pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother, or when it results from a criminal act, such as rape or incest.

The Church strongly supported the content of the ruling and was therefore one of the targets of the mass protests that erupted following the lower court ruling. The national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party also welcomed the decision.

For their part, all opposition parties, with the exception of Konfederacja, expressed their opposition to the new near-total ban on abortion.

Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Platform (PO), the largest opposition party, has called for legalizing free abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. He also demanded that all PO election candidates support this position.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia, leaders of the center-right Third Way (Trzecia Droga) coalition, did not go that far, but remain in favor of a return to the pre-TK abortion law. However, they want the issue to be decided by a national referendum.

Archbishop Lefebvre’s Precedent

In France, the Veil law of 1975 decriminalized abortion. After 5 years, the 1979 law was to renew the provision definitively. Following this, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre sent an official telegram to the President of the Republic, Mr. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in the afternoon of Tuesday, November 27, 1979, the content of which is as follows:

“By the vote that is asked of you, you will seriously engage your conscience before God because the 5th commandment of the Decalogue prohibits murder. It is for this reason that, faced with the seriousness of abortion, the Church has taken severe sanctions (c. 2350). All those who physically or morally contribute to an abortion are excommunicated.”

The same telegram was sent to 320 deputies, ambassadors, and journalists on the same day.