A Bolesławiec resident, Kinga Gęsicka-Biały, spoke today in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. She took part in a public hearing during a session of the Extraordinary Committee for Considering Bills Concerning the Right to Terminate Pregnancy.
The Bolesławiec resident’s testimony was moving and touching. Kinga is one of the few women who can speak courageously about difficult matters.
Hearing from people who have experienced both motherhood and abortion is important and valuable in the social debate, because their perspective is unique and comprehensive, encompassing the full spectrum of experiences connected with pregnancy and raising children. These women can bring authentic, personal testimonies to the debate that help explain the complexity of decisions concerning motherhood and abortion, while also highlighting the importance of providing appropriate support for mothers and families, which may lead to more empathetic and effective social policy.
– I am here today because I know the taste of motherhood and abortion. I am here today because each of us will do everything to become pregnant when we long for a pregnancy. And each of us will do everything when we do not want that pregnancy. I am the mother of an empty gestational sac, which will be nine years old the day after tomorrow. I received that diagnosis at my first appointment after seeing two lines on a pregnancy test. I was also given a referral to the hospital for what is known as a ‘cleaning’. I did not do it because I very much wanted to remain pregnant. I decided to wait; it was my choice. The burden of being the mother of a child born prematurely in asphyxia, as well as personal problems involving my very ill husband, did not weaken my resolve when I saw two lines for the second time. Doctors said it was an enormous risk because I had become pregnant unintentionally too soon after a Caesarean section, but I decided that I wanted the pregnancy. It was my choice. Today I am the mother of two wonderful boys, from the autism spectrum, aged seven and eight. For six years I have been a widow, mother and father in one. I take care of my family on my own, and I am very proud of myself. Some time ago, I saw two lines on a pregnancy test for the third time. I cannot describe that feeling, because it was terrible. I did not want to remain pregnant and I terminated the pregnancy; it was my choice. After a medical abortion, relief and guilt are a myth. Abortion smells like freedom, and the reasons do not matter. In the end, there is always a woman who does or does not want to remain pregnant. It is her decision, and potentially the decision of whoever she invites to participate in making it. Finally, I would like to add that I would like to have another child, but not today, not in this country. Because motherhood of children with disabilities, being both mother and father, and the lack of sufficient support from the Polish state leave me no choice. You want to protect fetuses? Perhaps you should take care of the children and mothers who are here and who fight against adversity every day? No bans, dressed up in beautiful words, will make abortion disappear. And a referendum? I have held one three times, in accordance with myself, my conscience and my abilities, in the quiet of my soul. Me and my—absolutely my—decision. We manage it ourselves and we will manage it ourselves. In defiance of the old guard – said Kinga Gęsicka-Biały.