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TIME: Almanac 1995
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<text id=90TT3070>
<title>
Nov. 19, 1990: Avoiding The Issue
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
Nov. 19, 1990 The Untouchables
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
POLAND, Page 52
Avoiding the Issue
</hdr>
<body>
<p> If there is one issue that most candidates in next week's
presidential election are loath to see raised, it is abortion.
Freely available for more than 30 years under the Communists,
abortion, along with the rhythm method, is Poland's primary form
of birth control. But now, in one of the reversals brought on
by the demise of communism, abortion may soon be outlawed under
legislation supported by Poland's Roman Catholic Church and the
Pope. Yet opinion polls show that the majority of Poles favor
keeping a woman's right to have one.
</p>
<p> The abortion fight in Poland underscores the resurgence of
the Catholic Church as a political powerhouse--along with the
traditional values it espouses. Anxious to avoid running against
the grain of popular support for abortion on one hand and the
church's opposition on the other, none of Poland's presidential
candidates have raised the issue voluntarily. When pushed,
Walesa and Mazowiecki say that as practicing Catholics, they
can't oppose the church's teaching. Only Wlodzimierz
Ciemoszewicz, the candidate of the former Communist Party, has
declared himself against the ban.
</p>
<p> Doctors estimate that in recent years some 600,000
abortions were performed annually in Poland. Although more than
90% of Poles belong to the Roman Catholic Church, the high
abortion rate reflected a lack of contraceptives, almost
nonexistent sex education and poverty.
</p>
<p> In September the Polish Senate, on the urging of
church-backed members, easily passed a bill providing jail
sentences of up to two years for doctors who perform abortions.
The legislation is expected to go to the Sejm, the lower house,
early next year, where passage is less certain.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>