International Pro-life News

Poland Embraces Successful March for Life and Family in Face of 'Human Rights' Movement
By Tim Waggoner

WARSAW, May 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On the eve of Mother's Day, Polish citizens, together with a variety of international guests, took part in the third annual March for Life and Family. Several thousand marched through the streets of Warsaw in a joyful affirmation of Judeo-Christian values. Participants called for recognition of the traditional family and fundamental human right to life for everyone from conception to natural death.

Slawomir Olejniczak, co-organizer of the March for Life and Family, reflected on the wave of the culture of death that has swept over Europe and the need to "return to family values":

"The family is the future for Europe. It guarantees stability and development of the whole civilization. Unfortunately, because of the crisis caused by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, we see a decline of family - more divorces, homosexual unions and also less children because of contraception and abortion. Because of this, Europe is becoming a demographical 'Titanic'. The only solution is to return to the family values and it should be guaranteed by the state and also by the European Union which it is not. It is unfortunately supporting a suicidal policy."

Jaroslaw Kniolek of the Warsaw-based Fundacja Pro, also warned of the attack against the family, but brought to attention Poland's work to defend the culture of life:
"The family in Europe is in crisis. Judeo-Christian values are under attack but Poland is pro-life and pro-family. We know that the abortion genocide is against women, men and societies. And we do not want aggressive ideologies of sick sexuality on our land. So we go out on the streets to celebrate normality and human rights."
Poland is facing stiff opposition on this front from the United Nations and the European Union.

Last month, the UN Human Rights Council criticized the government of Poland for their conservative view of abortion and sexual orientation. Poland's head of state, President Lech Kaczynski, warned of the repercussions of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which contain no clear definition of marriage.
Additionally, last year the European Parliament passed a resolution vowing to take 'homophobic' countries to court and labeled Poland as "hateful" for failing to allow the promotion of homosexuality in schools. The EU's advocacy of the culture of death was explicitly demonstrated when the European Union Court of Human Rights ordered the Polish government to pay a women a fine, upholding her claim that she had been discriminated against by being refused an abortion by doctors and the Polish courts.

In the midst of this resistance, Lukasz Wróbel, a 27-year old organizer of anti-abortion exhibitions in Polish cities, commented on Poland's position as a beacon of hope and truth for the rest of Europe:

"Europe is in our hands. 99% of Poles consider family a value and 70% of Poles admit abortion is genocide. We are a chance for Europe, we can instill anew the idea of fundamental human rights."