The “windows of life”

A few days ago it was announced that in Poland, in one of the modern "foundling wheels", now called "window of life" in Poland, was left the 63rd child. The first of over 50 "windows" present across major urban centres of the Country was set up in Krakow in 2007. Also from this angle the signs of the crisis are evident. The wheels are to be seen – in different forms – also in other European nations. In Germany, for example, they were restored in 1999. Anna T.Kowalewska, for SIR Europe, has addressed the issue with Ewa Kowalewska, representative of pro-life movements, president of the Association of Polish women Kobiet Polskich.In Poland the question of the defence of life is an important and topical issue. What is this special sensitivity of Polish people due to? "Poland is the only world country where after 37 years of legal abortions and the murder of almost 20 million children, an authentic change in mentality led to the adoption of a law on pregnancy interruption in 1993, which provides for the defence of life. The present regulation has saved many children, although it legalizes abortion in specific cases. The latter, according to figures published by the Polish parliament, range from 550 to 800 per year. Repeated surveys show that the majority of the Polish population is against abortion". How did this situation come about? "It’s the result of a major educational effort carried out by the Church and by pro-life movements, despite widespread propaganda promoted by pro-abortionist movements. These results have been achieved because the majority of the local population are believers. The difficult theme of abortion has always been present in Church Magisterium, in homilies delivered at Mass, while under Communism it was an element of confrontation with the dictatorship. Many are unaware that in 1981 Solidarnosc asked for a law in defence of the newborn. Abortion had been imposed to Jews, Poles, Russians and Gipsies under the Nazi occupation of Poland (1939-1945), reconfirmed by the Communist regime in 1956 with adoption of a law that remained in force until 1993, when the present regulation was adopted".Just like many other European countries, over the past years Poland was hit by a serious demographic crisis. What are the reasons? "Demographic and economic crises form a vicious cycle. Because of the economic crisis many people have lost their jobs and are experiencing a precarious situation, which doesn’t give them sufficient security to decide to have children. Not much support is provided by the Polish government to families in difficult situations, while large families, constituting a third of Polish children, have to manage the situation on their own. Another reason for the demographic crisis lies in the planned destruction of fertility, which has become a widely accepted lifestyle. Contraceptives are increasingly widespread, also the so-called ‘morning-after pill’. In Poland these drugs are legal, and some of them are funded by the national health system". According to figures released by the Polish health ministry, each year 700 mothers abandon their newborn babies in hospitals to give them up for adoption. One of the adoption centres in Otwock, near Warsaw, set up 12 years ago, has given over one thousand children for adoptive parenthood. Is there a real need for the "windows of life?" "Several centres are active in Poland, including Catholic ones, where mothers can bring their child for adoption by a family that is willing to love and take care of the child. Mothers also have the possibility of giving up their parent rights soon after birth, but they must do so in court, following legal procedures. The windows of life allow mothers to bring their children and leave them anonymously. These windows do not replace regular adoption procedures; they simply provide another possibility to abandon the newborn in different forms. Children adopted through official procedures are given the right to meet their biological parents once of age, whereas the newborn left to the care of the ‘window of life’ will only know their adoptive parents, since the identity of the mothers will always be protected by anonymity. Thanks to anonymity mothers can overcome their fears and increasing social pressure, while giving birth to their child, perhaps in a different city from their city of origin".