The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference asks the President of the Republic of Poland not to sign the November 29 law

I kindly request that you refuse to sign the Act of November 29, 2023, amending the Act on health care services financed from public funds and refer it to the Sejm for reconsideration or refer it to the Constitutional Court – wrote the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, in a letter to Polish President Andrzej Duda.

The law provides that „the minister in charge of health shall develop, implement, carry out and finance a health policy program for the treatment of infertility covering medically assisted procreation procedures, including in vitro fertilization conducted in a medically assisted procreation center” (16a).

The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference noted in the letter that „the Episcopate has repeatedly spoken out on in vitro fertilization, which is not a method of treating infertility.”

Archbishop Gądecki noted that the Church refers to legal-natural and religious arguments in its teaching. „Human life is a fundamental value and an indispensable good. It, therefore, demands absolute protection, regardless of the period and quality of human life. The in vitro method, meanwhile, is an experimentation on man, its peculiar ‚production’ constituting ‚a form of seizure of human life” – assessed the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.

Archbishop Gądecki noted that „infertility is a tough trial.” Therefore, „creating a national program for genuine infertility treatment is necessary. It is because modern medicine indicates that the removal of medical or psychological causes of infertility gives a much better chance of giving birth to a healthy child than artificial assisted reproduction procedures.”

At the same time, the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference stressed that each of the children conceived by IVF „is created in the ‚image and likeness’ of God and endowed with inherent human dignity. Each should be welcomed with the love and respect they deserve just as much as children conceived naturally.”

Translated by Sr. Amata Nowaszewska / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference