A female Polish doctor called a baby in a mother’s womb “a parasite” during an appearance on a popular internet TV channel’s debate on abortion.
During a debate on abortion organized by web channel Zero, Dr. Anna Orawiec, a gynecologist, likened pregnancy to a form of parasitism that women consciously decide to engage in.
“From the point of view of biology, parasitism is a situation in which one organism takes from another and gives nothing in return. Pregnancy is such a situation in a way because the fetus does not nourish the woman in any way, so it is a parasite. But most women, however, decide to engage in this parasitism and are happy with the parasite that is inside,” said Orawiec.
Orawiec also explained that she advocates for the legalization of abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
“I believe that it should be the woman who decides whether she wants to be pregnant or wants to terminate it. If a patient decides to have an abortion by the 12th week, it is a procedure that is safe enough, safer than wisdom tooth extraction. So, here, whether we continue the pregnancy or not, should depend on the person who is pregnant,” the gynecologist said.
The shocking words uttered by the doctor during the debate on the right to abortion received wide coverage on social media.
“The child is a parasite. The woman agrees to carry the parasitism inside and is happy to give birth to the parasite. How can a doctor call a child a parasite?” one user asked on X.
“It’s sad, but such people should make such statements more often, because they ridicule the left’s views on abortion. They take them to such an extreme,” said another.
“I cannot find words in the language of civilized people to comment on these disgusting words,” said another user while another simply wrote: “Barbaric views.”
The debate on liberalizing abortion legislation was reignited in Poland in November last year when the Left submitted two bills, with one that partially decriminalizes abortion and assistance for the procedure, and another that allows termination of pregnancy until the end of the 12th week.
At the end of January this year, a draft was submitted by a group of MPs from Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition to parliament, which allows for abortion on-demand until the 12th week of pregnancy. Another draft, by the Third Way Alliance, reverses the Constitutional Court judgment of 2020 on abortion regulations, bringing back abortion on grounds of damage to the fetus. Third Way politicians also want a referendum to be held on abortion.
Szymon Hołownia, the speaker of Poland’s parliament, has decided that all drafts regarding abortion will be discussed in the Sejm on April 11, after the local elections. This caused a major row in the ruling coalition, as the Left and Tusk’s party wanted the matter debated as soon as possible.
The abortion regulations in force in Poland since 1993 were changed after the Constitutional Court’s judgment of October 2020. Previously, the Act on Family Planning, known as the abortion compromise, allowed abortion also in the case of severe and irreversible fetal impairment or an incurable disease that threatens the child’s life. The Constitutional Tribunal found this ground for termination of pregnancy to be unconstitutional, as it did not meet the standards to protect life.
The judgment led to mass protests in 2020, with the issue hurting the ruling conservatives (PiS) in the 2023 election.
