The Left party is to ask the Deputies' Ethics Committee to reprimand the ruling PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński for his "disgraceful comment" on women, alcohol, and Poland's low birth rate. "You could say this is a comment worth an old patriarchal man who utters such nonsense past midnight at a traditional Polish wedding," said MP Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, who also listed a number of reasons for which women in Poland either can't or won't have children.
At a meeting with voters in Ełk on Saturday (November 5) PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński said that Poland's low birth rate was a result of abuse of alcohol among women. On the one hand, he admitted he was not a supporter of "very early motherhood", as "a woman needs to mature to become a mother", but on the other, he said: "But if she is boozing until she's 25, then - maybe I'm joking a bit - it's not exactly the best of forecasts in that regard".
He continued this topic also on Sunday, but this time in Olsztyn. He argued that "young women are competing with men when it comes to alcohol consumption". "This is objectively harmful, and an honest politician who knows this, and I have it on good authority, should be saying it because, I repeat, it's harmful," Kaczyński said. In his view, "some biological factors make women much less resilient to alcohol than men and there's nothing you can do about it". "But it doesn't mean I encourage men to drink excessively," he added.
The Left on why Polish women can't or won't have kids
The Left party MPs commented on Kaczyński's words on Monday in the Sejm. "You could say this is a comment worth an old patriarchal man who utters such nonsense past midnight at a traditional Polish wedding," said Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus. "And of course we could laugh at it and pass it on as memes, but it is a serious and tragic matter," she added.
She stressed that "Polish women cannot have children in Poland because they don't feel safe here and don't have financial stability". "Let me point out that every fifth working woman in Poland gets paid about the minimum wage," she added.
"Secondly, Polish women don't wan't to bear children because they have no place to live in. Poland lacks 2 million flats and most young people still live at their parents'" - the Left MP said.
"Under PiS Poland is anti-family and anti-women"
"Thirdly, Polish women can't bear children in Poland because they are afraid. After the tragic ruling passed by Julia Przyłebska's Constitutional Tribunal Polish women are afraid to get pregnant because they fear that a doctor won't help them if they happen to have an irreversibly damaged foetus. And the doctors are afraid of prosecutor Ziobro (Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro - edit.).
"Polish women are afraid to bear children because they have no safety of a gyneacologist visit," Scheuring-Wielgus said, adding that "in general, access to gyneacologists in Poland is available strictly to these Polish women who have money," she stressed.
"Polish women are afraid to have children because they have no guarantee that once they do, the state will help them. They don't know if there will find a place in a nursery, if there is a place in a kindergarten. Even if they somehow find a place, then they need to dress the baby, buy school supplies and so on. Under the rule of Law and Justice, Poland is anti-family and anti-women," she underscored.
Request to reprimand Kaczyński
MP Robert Biedroń said the Left would file a request to the Deputies' Ethics Committee that Kaczyński be reprimanded for "his disgraceful comment". "We believe Jarosław Kaczyński should not be left unpunished for saying things like these," he added.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24