Poland's influential Roman Catholic church appealed Monday to the
country's politicians to oppose in vitro fertilization, calling the
procedure akin to eugenics.
The procedure is a controversial topic
in the predominantly Catholic country, where conservatives believe it
should be declared illegal because it leads to the destruction of human
embryos.
Poland also has one of the lowest birthrates in the European
Union and the state has been struggling to find ways to encourage
families to have more children.
It's an issue that takes on added
urgency with a population expected to age in coming decades and a
ballooning deficit that will make it harder to support the aged.
In
vitro fertilization is legal in Poland, but the procedure is expensive
and a real option only for families with money.
After Prime Minister
Donald Tusk took office in 2007 he promised state financing for it but
the legislation was bogged down in heated debate and controversy.
There
are several proposals floating in parliament, including plans put up by
conservative opposition lawmakers that would make it illegal.
Several
Polish bishops made their case in a letter to the country's prime
minister, president and leaders in parliament as Tusk's ruling Civic
Platform party nears completion of draft legislation that foresees state
funding for the procedure.
But in a sign of how divisive the issue is,
the party has two competing draft bills — one making in vitro funding
available only to married couples and the other to unmarried couples as
well.
Poland's conference of Catholic bishops said on its website
that the letter was sent Monday and that signatories include the head of
the conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik, and Archbishop Henryk Hoser,
who heads a church council on bioethics.
It comes several days
after Hoser threatened excommunication to lawmakers who support in vitro
fertilization.
The letter backs away from that stance but still argues
strongly against allowing the procedure, calling it the "younger sister
of eugenics."
"The birth of one child leads in each case to the
death — at different stages of the medical procedure — of many other
lives," the letter said.
SIC: AP/INT'L