REPORT No 2
February 1996
THE EFFECTS OF THE ANTI-ABORTION LAW
IN FORCE IN POLAND SINCE MARCH - 16 - 1993
REPORT No 2 |
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Present accessibility of abortion in Poland
Effects for the anti-abortion act on mental health
A recognised psychologist, Andrzej Samson, on the basis of his long practice as a family psychotherapist claims that the anti-abortion act has had a strong influence on the life of Polish families. In our society sex has always been a taboo and was treated as a source of guilt and sin but this attitude to sexuality has been strengthened after the introduction of the act and particularly due to the teachings of the Roman-Catholic Church and public discussions on abortion.
Above all sexuality is not treated as a source of satisfaction and pleasure but a source of fear and danger. This aspect of human life stopped being private and became public issue on which one has to report, for example in the Church. Samson says that fear of unwanted pregnancy and usage of ineffective natural methods of family planning promoted by the Church caused avoidance of sexual life by women out of fear of unwanted pregnancy. It seems that Poles have sex less frequently than before and less frequently than they would want to. The fear of unwanted pregnancy is so strong also because those patients who are catholic refrain from using any other contraceptives than the natural methods of family planning but at the same time they do not believe that they are effective. Thus, on the one hand they do not use effective methods of family planning and on the other, using the methods recommended by the Church, they live in permanent fear. Those women who, against the order of the Church, use a pill or an IUD are bothered by guilty conscience. There are cases when priests force them to remove the coil in order to obtain absolution (forgiveness of sins at the end of confession).
So what if a woman gets pregnant? Many women who got pregnant decide to have an illegal abortion, even though they feel terribly guilty. Samson also points to the fate of those unwanted children who will be born anyway.
Samson stressed that people who come to him for therapy belong to quite a narrow class - they are people with secondary or higher education, living in cities. He is convinced, judging from hundreds of letters which he answers for the women' weekly "Pani domu", that in small cities and villages the situation is much worse, but hardly anybody there looks for help and has a chance to find it.
Samson's observations are not unique. They are fully confirmed by other psychologists and sexologists. Doctor Anna Sierzpowska - Ketner points to the fact that gynaecologists often not only do not recommend to women any contraceptives but strengthen in women the conviction that contraceptives are harmful. Many of them follow the recommendation of Doctors' Councils (the bodies regulating matters of ethics) and tell women about contraceptives only on their own request.
Doctor Sierzpowska claims, on the basis of her medical practice and many letters from women all over Poland which she answers for the women's weekly "Przyjacióka", that many women are "frightened to death" of pregnancy and they avoid sexual contact with their partners.
Also doctor Arnold Pawelski, sexologist, has commented on sexual problems resulting from the introduction of the law. He divides his patients into two types - those with more liberal and those with more traditional views. He claims that in women who belong to the first group "the feeling of guilt rooted in the moral values received in childhood (...) and skilfully strengthened by the supporters of the act, develops unnoticed but comes to the surface in a very harmful way. This feeling of guilt is irrational, it contradicts the system of their values so it is strongly suppressed and it often remains subconscious. But suppressed feeling of guilt, its permanent presence in the subconscious makes it stronger, which leads to internal dissonance, dislike towards their own body and themselves generally. They become depressed and reluctant to have sex which before used to be a source of much satisfaction 17)
On the other hand, women who accept traditional, Catholic moral values, in face of stronger and stronger feeling of guilt aroused by sex, experience sexual problems such as frigidity and inability to reach orgasm. "Initial research conducted by the Centre of Clinical Sexuology provides data that since the introduction of the anti-abortion law the number of patients in the first group increased by 45% and in the second group - by 70%. 18)
When the anti-abortion law came into force similar problems also occurred in the telephone calls from women that call the hot line, operated by the Federation since 1992.
Family planning is only used by a small portion of Polish society. Poland, unlike other countries, does not collect statistic data on contraceptive prevalence. The government report states, on the basis of data obtained from pharmacies that 2.2% of women use the pill. 19)
There are many obstacles that limit the availability and usage of contraceptives in Poland. Among them are:
The anti-abortion law obliges the Ministry of Education to introduce sex education to school curricula. However, the way the Ministry fulfils this obligation is highly unsatisfactory.
Maria Trawiska prepared a report on sex education provided in Polish schools 20) on the basis of research conducted in 707 schools represented by their teachers: 61.7% teachers of primary schools (41% - in cities, 20.7% in villages), 15% of secondary comprehensive schools and 22.5% of vocational schools. The report is highly critical about how the Ministry fulfils the duty to provide sex education in schools.
The sex education program, introduced following the Ministerial order, was not preceded by any preparatory process like training of teachers or preparation of school textbooks etc.
Only 10% of schools stated that they could easily implement the instructions of the Ministry of Education. Another 10% of schools have done nothing to provide sex education. The remaining schools took up different action depending on their means and good will. 43% of schools have created their programs, but 53% have prepared no such programs.
"There is chaos in terms of the subjects and the organisation of classes. Neither the teachers nor the students have a consistent program to follow and subjects are treated at random, nobody controls what effects the classes bring in terms of education, socialisation, teaching patterns of behaviour or even providing information." 21)
Those teaching the subject are: school counsellors (22.6%), teachers of Polish (19.2%), biology (24.6%), mathematics, history, sport, teachers of vocational subjects and nuns and priests teaching religion (2.5%).
Self-evaluation of those teachers is low: 60% claim that neither them no their colleagues are qualified to teach this subject. The research on the basis of objective criteria confirms this self-evaluation.
The level of knowledge on sexual life among the youth is poor. Apart from the lack of basic knowledge Trawiska confirmed that many false believes are cherished by young people. 22)
Definite majority of textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education are based on the Roman-Catholic Church's teaching on family planning. Those books are biased, inaccurate and they ignore contemporary knowledge on contraceptives. They strengthen stereotypical convictions about human sexuality. They are particularly harmful since they are directed to the youngest, who are the most vulnerable to propaganda. Some of those textbooks were submitted to thorough analysis and criticism in the reviews prepared by the Warsaw University professors which are included into the report of the 'Neutrum' association: 'Observance of freedom of conscience and religion in Polish public schools' (1996). The books include: 'I am Growing in Wisdom' by Wanda Papis, 'getting Towards Adulthood' (for older classes of primary school) work of several authors edited by Teresa Król and 'In Search of Real Love' by Marina Ombach.
Extracts from the book by M. Ombach "In Search of Real Love". The book is recommended by the Ministry of Education and is on the list of textbooks for teaching the subject in post-primary schools.
pages 86-7: 'Even if contraceptives had only the effect of preventing conception and if they did not damage the babies in the initial stage of their life, and if they were not harmful to the woman's health, even then using contraceptives cannot be treated as the right human sexual behaviour, and this is because of the moral evil that it does to the human being.
Why? Let us illustrate this with the following example. A small boy is stealing apples from the neighbour's garden. His act was effective because he managed not to get caught. No one, however, will judge his behaviour as right and worth following. The moral evil behind contraceptives comes from the fact that they limit the sexual contact to sole pleasure, thoroughly excluding possibility of parenthood.
page 93: '
When at last will people become fully aware that fertility means health! Contraceptives which kill fertility harm human beings because they destroy their health!'
Some significant changes concerning the birth rate have been noticed in Poland. According to the Statistical Yearbook of Demography (1995) it can be observed that while the birth rate has been decreasing for several years (1.85 in 1994, 1.8 in 1995), there is growing number of teenage pregnancies (8% of births) and late pregnancies (11% of births); in 80-ties early and late births constituted 6% and 6% of all births 23).
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