My take on the abortion row in Poland.

Polish government apparently wants to toughen abortion law and people are protesting against it.

I would protest too, but for very different reasons.

I'm pro life and think that human life is sacred.  I wish I lived in the world where abortion does not happen and where no mother chooses to kill her baby. But we live in a different world where women and pushed to abort their babies for one reason or another.  And they will continue to do so whether abortion is allowed or not. So the choice is not between the world where abortion happens and the world where it doesn't. The choice is between the world where abortion happens, but we show women clearly that they have a number of choices and when they choose to have abortion at least this is done safely and the world where women need to go to the underground and thus risk serious complications, lack of support and potentially years of guilt.

I don't believe toughening the law is the way to stop abortion happening. We should rather be there for women who are in an extremely vulnerable state, ready to listen and help. I know women invest a lot during the nine months of pregnancy and it's often not easy to go through both physically and emotionally. And yet I believe this is not so much compered with how it can hurt after you kill your baby.

Instead of banging on about what an evil abortion is the Polish Church should really concentrate on what alternatives to abortion is. Fundacja Małych Stópek (literally "Little Feet Foundation) does some excellent work making a real difference to women who choose not to have an abortion. We need more initiatives like that instead of marginalising women in life situations which you wouldn't like to find yourself in. We need more men ready to take responsibility for their babies. I think men can play such a big role in reducing the number of abortions. Not by lobbying to toughen abortion laws: rather by taking responsibility for the life their created. Men are so often left out of the picture in the abortion debate, but pregnancy takes two people. And both of them should behave like adults. Leaving the burden on a woman and a woman only means that the choice she has to make is even more difficult.