The following BLOG post from a Polish website Journalists against abortion is a stark reminder of the importance of the freedoms we sometimes take for granted, in this case, conscientious objection.
Human life is both the most basic and the highest value. Instead of deliberating about something so obvious as whether a child is a child from the moment of conception, why not accept this as a fact and protect this life without any dilemmas or justifications?
How much easier and more beautiful life would be for everybody, most of all for the doctors, midwives and medical students who can be pressured into taking part in abortions. For these people, dealing with abortion in hospitals is often a real tragedy.
This was also my case. I was hired by the gynecological ward of a Warsaw hospital.I was happy since this was my first job. On the first day, I was told that as a midwife, I would not only protect and save human life, but also assist in abortions. I am a religious and churchgoing person. I have my values, and I live by them. I was simply in a state of shock. I had never thought that something like that could happen to me. However, finding a job is not easy, and it had been a hard road to the gynecological ward. But I knew one thing: even if I had to lose this job, I would not set foot in “the operating room”. I put this nice-sounding name in quotes because in fact it should be called a killing room. I was very surprised that I was not given any choice. I was simply told that abortions were performed there and midwives took part in them as if that were completely normal. The head midwife said, “The doctor thinks it is helpful for women.” I was not interested in what this doctor thought. I think abortion is killing innocent children, no matter whether these children are healthy or sick. A crime is always a crime. I have the right to my own opinion, as well as the right to an honest job that does not go against my conscience.
I wondered: What will happen when it is my turn to assist with an abortion. I could not possibly imagine that. I did not want to go to work under stress, nor be a slave to my job. I quickly quit since the head midwife said that she could not make an exception for me by allowing me not to work in the “operating room.” Even if it could have been possible, sooner or later I would have quit, because it would have been hard to work knowing what happened behind that door.
I experienced what it is like to be so close to a crime which I had only heard about. I obtained a diploma in a wonderful specialty, and I think that the principle of my profession is to help and protect life, not to destroy it.
Maria Karwińska
