The appearance of the well-known stand-up performer is the result of a rare genetic mutation: achondroplasia, which affects one in 25,000 people. The mutation causes impaired development of some bones, which is why the young woman is 122 centimeters tall. A semifinalist on “Stand Up! Zabij mnie śmiechem” and “Mam talent,” she has long fought stereotypes. On Facebook, Ola Petrus published a powerful text addressed to those who pretend to want to defend people with disabilities. The message was clear: Don’t pretend that you know better than us what it is like to live with something that perhaps could have been avoided!!! Because you haven’t got the slightest idea about it!!!

Ola Petrus:

What is important to me is that in countries where abortion laws are liberal, there is also a great deal of support.

I don’t like the belief that where abortion is easier to obtain, everyone takes advantage of it. It is always a very difficult decision.

I don’t like the message that more liberal abortion laws will lead to the extermination of people with disabilities.

What is the logic of people who shout that sick people should be born? Do you want there to be more and more people like that in the world?

I did not undergo surgery. People helped me prepare for independent living.

On “Mam Talent,” I used my five minutes in front of an audience of millions.

I was always brash and very combative. In high school, I hung out with the boys.

Being a comedian is a profession in which there should be no taboos.

I have miles of distance, but the miles eventually run out.

I attended a Catholic school for six years (a Salesian lower secondary school). I saw various kinds of behavior. Some of it did not correspond to behavior consistent with the faith.

In Protestantism, the pastor has a wife (experience), and you can talk to him about relationships. You can pray in your own words instead of reciting a memorized prayer.

I am not ashamed to say that I am a person of faith.

I saw LGBT people in the congregation. They feel safe there.

The pastor’s wife wrote on her profile that she is opposed to abortion but supports a compromise.

I support women taking joy in their bodies.

I support the “Girls Watch Porn” movement.

When I start talking about my adventures, there is either laughter or what is known as “sucking in.”

Many men make negative comments about me.

In the ongoing protests, solidarity among like-minded people is the most important thing to me.

At the protests, the question is no longer whether it is worth going, but when we are going.

Imposing one’s worldview and opinions... those times are over.

Ola Pertus’s post was shared 4,000 times and is one of the most important voices in the ongoing discussion about abortion and the right to choose.

When I see slogans voiced by people pretending to want to defend people with disabilities, such as “They want to live too!”, I start searching online to see whether someone has suddenly announced mass hunts for such people somewhere. Because that is how it sounds. NO ONE wants to harm people with disabilities. Since you care so much about them and speak on their behalf, ask them whether, if there were a medicine, vaccine, or procedure that would permanently eliminate the disease or mutation during pregnancy or even earlier, they would also protest and try to block it. Would they insist that since God gave the embryo a disability, it must remain that way? I don’t know anyone who would refuse such an opportunity. If such people exist, they are the damn selfish ones.