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Abortion in Poland: A vicious circle or a good use of rhetoric
Women'sStudiesInl~mationalForum,Vol. 18, No. I, pp. 27-33, 1995 Copyright© 1995ElsevierScienceLtd Printedin the USA.All rightsreserved 0277-5395/95$9.50+ .00
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ABORTION IN POLAND: A VICIOUS CIRCLE OR A GOOD USE OF RHETORIC A Sociological Study of the Political Discourse of Abortion in Poland JACQUELINE HEINEN University Paris VII, 16 rue de Montreuil, 75011 Pads, France ANNA MATUCHNIAK-KRAsUSKA University ofL6dZ, ul. Sienkiewicza 59 m. 18, 90-009 LrdZ, Poland Translated by Kimber Simpson
Synopsis - - The linguistic and semiotic analysis of the discourse over the political, social, and medical aspects of abortion is the topic of this article. In the fall of 1989 we interviewed 30 experts from various professional backgrounds who held opposing viewpoints on abortion. Half were pro-life; half were prochoice. The analysis of the terminology employed by pro-life experts reveals several techniques of semantic manipulation: the elimination of neutral terms and their replacement by convenient synonyms, the exclusion of some words, and the redefinition of others. This modified terminology serves to create a discourse completely biased toward the "defense of life." Negation, selection, illustration, and minimization are techniques of semantic manipulation. They are applied against women's rights to abortion in several juridical cases, like therapeutic abortion, deformation of the fetus, rapes, the difficult social situation of a pregnant woman. A source of all examples is provided by our interviews with experts and lay people and content analysis of mass media.
EXPERTS AND LAYPEOPLE
work as well. Both their style o f speaking and their opinions or activity proved revealing s u b j e c t s o f study. W e f o u n d it i n t e r e s t i n g to c o m p a r e the use o f l a n g u a g e by pro-life and pro-choice experts; the latter used conventional a n d a c c e p t e d t e r m i n o l o g y , both p o p u l a r a n d comprehensible, while the former constructed a special terminology, which clearly manifested their moral attitudes. T h i s t y p e o f s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c a n a l y s i s is e s s e n t i a l b e c a u s e it s h o w s c l e a r l y the a b y s s b e t w e e n lay people and experts.! In our study, "average" people spoke m a i n l y about the problems o f everyday life. They found it difficult to understand w h y priests refused or were u n a b l e to take into a c c o u n t present social c o n d i t i o n s such as poverty, u n e m p l o y m e n t , the h o u s i n g shortage, a l c o h o l i s m , a n d illness. S o m e rapp r o c h m e n t must be made b e t w e e n the declaration of a pro-life activist that " h u m a n life is a s u p r e m e value" and the statement o f a w o m a n worker in a L6dZ factory:
T h e l i n g u i s t i c a n d s e m i o t i c a n a l y s i s o f the discourse over the political, social, and m e d i c a l a s p e c t s o f a b o r t i o n is the topic o f this article. In the fall o f 1989 we spoke to 30 experts from various professional backgrounds who h e l d o p p o s i n g v i e w p o i n t s on a b o r t i o n . H a l f were pro-life, a n d h a l f were pro-choice. O u r i n t e r v i e w s i n c l u d e d doctors (especially gynecologists a n d sexologists), journalists, politicians, a n d priests. A l l o f them were actively engaged in the political discourse over the n e w l e g i s l a t i v e p r o p o s a l "to protect u n b o r n children," and most o f them took part in legislative This study was carried out in 1989 by Anna Matuchniak-Krasuska, University of L6dL and Jacqueline Heinen, University of Paris VII. The authors' book, published in French, is entitled, L'Avortement en Pologne: La C r o i x et la B a n n i e r e [Abortion in Poland: A Vicious Circle], L'Harmattan, Paris, 1992. 27
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JACQUELINEHEI'NENand ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
Bearing children is not the problem. Having the conditions in which to educate them; that is the question. Do you know what our working conditions, family lives, and housing situations are like? We have no milk to give our children, no medicine, no money to take them on holidays . . . . Of course we don't even have contraceptives, and when your husband comes home drunk at night he hasn't done anything about it. Women aren't machines for producing babies! They must want their children and love them! In our research we learned that it is not unusual for Catholic experts, and doctors as well, to impress upon their women clients their personal opinions about abortion and contraception. In front of patients, such doctors often hide their ideological convictions under their professional competence. One gynecologist in L6d~ confessed to us that, unknown to her patients: When I've had to take into consideration the disparity between medical policies and those imposed by the Church, I've consulted a priest and followed his advocacy. Such attitudes have provoked an ironic response from pro-choice supporters concerning whom such doctors really represent. Does s/he wear a "white uniform or black robe?" One doctor who has refused to impose Catholic ideology on her professional work declared: To engage in scientific discourse with a fanatic is impossible. As a doctor you must take into account both of your patients: the mother and the child. I do my best. I work in an obstetric hospital which helps women from all over Poland who are dealing with difficult pregnancies. I am firmly opposed to abortion and I try to save every unborn child. But I am also firmly opposed to killing women; women who have not been informed of the risks they face due to the doctor's obligation to continue a pregnancy which endangers the woman's life and health! These examples show how difficult the discussion over abortion is: Debate rages not only between the opposing positions of pro-life and pro-choice, nor just between lay people and experts, but among the experts themselves.
MANIPULATION THROUGH SEMANTIC EXERCISES 2 Both the content and the structure of the discourse used by the representatives of the Church merit detailed examination. The analysis of the terminology employed by pro-life experts reveals several techniques of semantic manipulation: The elimination of neutral terms and their replacement by "convenient" synonyms, the exclusion of some words, and the redefinition of others. Such elimination and replacement are used frequently by Church experts to alter the emotional associations of certain expressions. The words used in everyday language as well as in scientific terminology are considered by prolife supporters to be too neutral, or insufficiently 'evocative.' Embryo and fetus, for example, are replaced by synonyms such as 'conceived child,' 'unborn child,' 'baby,' 'little boy,' 'little girl,' and so forth. The term p r e g n a n t w o m a n is replaced by 'mother.' 'Murder' or 'mutilation of the child in its mother's womb' is substituted for abortion or interrupted pregnancy. The word curettage is also judged as too benign; it is termed rather 'the butchering of a child.' The doctor is an 'abortionist' who doesn't work in a hospital or a clinic but in an 'abortion chamber,' a phrase which explicitly evokes Nazi-type concentration camps. Every effort in favor of the right to choose is called 'anti-life' or serving the 'network of infanticide.' Information disseminated in schools by teachers or even doctors, which deals openly with sex and contraception, is called 'immoral sexual propaganda.' Under the pen of pro-life advocates, the 'right to have an abortion' becomes the 'right to kill.' When pro-life supporters are unable to simply eliminate the specific terms used by their adversaries, they try to modify the sense of these terms. One common technique is the application of adjectives which have emotional connotations. 3 Thus, 'bad,' or negative adjectives (i.e., immoral, unnatural, unscientific) are associated with pro-choice arguments. And 'good,' positive adjectives are used to describe their own arguments. In this way 'pregnancy,' or 'awaiting the birth of a child,' is considered as a physiological situation and is designated natural and moral. But an 'abortion' is not a physiological situation, and thus is designated unnatural and immoral. In this dualistic opposition, there is no place for the physiological
Abortion in Poland
phenomena of the complications associated with pregnancy and child-birth, which can result in illness, mutilation, or even death. The identification of 'moral' with 'natural' also provides ammunition for the fight against contraceptives, laying the groundwork for the claim that contraceptives are unnatural and therefore immoral. 4 In the practice of this art of using adjectives, pro-life advocates have even resorted to calling the 1956 law 'totalitarian,' 'communist,' 'Stalinist,' and 'Hitlerist.' Replacement is a blatant way of altering meanings; pro-life discourse uses more subtle means as well. Simply changing the context of a word or phrase can significantly modify its meaning. The construction of specific semantic sequences can cause words to lose their autonomy and take on new connotations. Hidden implications replace the formal conjunctions. For example, the title of the paper "Pornography, Contraception, Abortion, and Euthanasia," suggests that each previous phenomenon causes the following one. Another example (this time a positive one) is the popular term Polish = Catholic, which subtlely suggests that one cannot be a true patriot unless one is faithful to the Church. Another effective way in which prolife advocates change the sense of words is to tack their own assertions onto the end of their opponents' arguments in order to distort their opponents' opinions. When pro-choice supporters criticize that pro-life activists "impose a Catholic morality on all people," the latter attack that their enemies "impose their morality on innocent children." The final method used by pro-life supporters to alter the meanings of words is simply to give certain terms new definitions. Thus, conception is defined as 'fertilization' rather than as the implantation of a fetus in the uterus. This definition places first trimester abortions and IUDs (which are considered 'abortive') into the same category as very late abortions (which have always been illegal). In addition, pro-life advocates are u n w i l l i n g to a c c e p t the World H e a l t h Organization's definition of health, which includes not only the absence of illness, but also an individual's good physical, mental, and social condition. Their refusal stems from the possibility that this broad definition could provide the legal basis for the necessity of abortion in terms of the danger pregnancy may pose to the quality of women's life and health.
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T H E ART OF ESCAPE Terminology modified in this way serves to arm a discourse completely biased toward the 'defense of life.' Its users also have recourse to other w e l l - d e v e l o p e d techniques, such as restricting the debate to general terms and refusing to answer questions concerning the problems of specific individuals. Catholic 'experts' respond to the statement that 'women have the right to choose their own maternity' with the assertion that 'falling birth-rates risk the annihilation of the Polish nation.' Another technique is the selection of lawyers', doctors', and moralists' quotations, which are reprinted in pro-life publications. Then Catholic 'experts' try to pass off such statements as those of the entire scientific community or as those of its most advanced wing. In addition, specific cases are presented not as illustrations but as a proof of the theories which they advance. Or then again, pro-life advocates simply deny phenomena which do not suit them; when this negation is impossible they do their best to play down the incongruous elements (what is called here ' minimization'). W O M E N ' S RIGHTS A N D THE DUTY TO SACRIFICE Witness the logic of their argument developed on the subject of therapeutic abortion. Pro-life 'experts' start out by stating that the problem does not exist, that scientific progress has eradicated all risk to the life and health of a pregnant mother. They go on to exhort, Don't let them kill your baby! Try to find an honest doctor who will take care of a mother in "her blessed condition" and her unborn child as well. (Ocal2ycie bezbronnernu [Save an innocent life], Nlepokalan6w, 1990). Confronted with evidence from various cardiological, nephrological, or neurological specialists, who attest to the v e r y great risk incurred by women with diabetes, heart, kidney, or vertebral-column ailments (risks which grow as scientific progress helps those who might otherwise die in childhood), Catholic 'experts' admit that such dangers exist but are very rare. They argue that one can never be certain in a difficult pregnancy, that there is always a chance that both the woman and the
30
JACQUELINEHEINEN and ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
child will survive. Yet when further pressed, they completely abandon scientific arguments in order to emphasize religious issues: One cannot save the life of the mother at the price of the unborn child's, because the life of the latter is a gift from God. Moreover, possible complications do not pose a problem for a 'real' mother, because maternity implies her complete devotion to and willing sacrifice for her child. They explain that, In certain rare cases, women are bound to acts of extreme maternal devotion, even at the cost of their lives. The Catholic ethic demands heroism on their part. Finally, when their adversaries question the appropriateness of such arguments, by pointing out that they impose Catholic values on nonbelievers, pro-life activists abandon religious justification in favor of more general ideological discourse and appeals to humanitarian principles for the protection of life. "The legal protection of the life of the unborn child constitutes the first and principal requirement of all humanism," stated one ecclesiast interviewed. This is essentially a paraphrase of the analogous opinion put forward by Cardinal Wyszyfiki in 1956: Inasmuch as the life of an unborn child is concerned, it is of little importance whether you are a believer or not; it's enough to be a human being. In the discussion over abortion in the case of the deformation of the fetus, we can see the same techniques of manipulation. Pro-life supporters begin by claiming that such cases occur very infrequently and go on to admonish that medicine should cure ill children rather than kill them. Then they add that even if such treatment is impossible now, because of the lack of medical knowledge or financial means, perhaps it will be possible in the future. Their argument ends on an ideological note: "Each human life is inviolable, independent of its 'quality.'" This battle is not limited to the 'minimization' of fetal deformities. It also extends to the negation of the importance of prenatal examinations, which would be indicative of this kind of deformation. Pro-life advocates suggest that the proportion of false results in prenatal tests
is so great that such tests should not even be taken into consideration. They claim that the negative results of such tests put psychological pressure on pregnant women to abort. An illustration using a case study is used as proof. The following is an example of such manipulation by a gynecologist: I was told about several cases of such "scare tactics." One even happened in my own family. I remember very well how terrified this young mother was. In the third month of her pregnancy she tearfully learned that she was carrying a malformed child. She was "warned" against carrying it to term by a gynecologist. Of course she didn't have an abortion and now this supposed monster is a handsome, healthy and very clever boy. He is a good pupil at school. (WigniewskaRoszkowska, 1986, p. 252) In addition, it is not unusual for Catholic doctors who harbor such attitudes to assure the pregnant women in their care of the perfect health of their fetuses without having done any tests to determine it. RAPES THAT NEVER H A P P E N E D . . . Using the same techniques of semantic manipulation, pro-life supporters also minimize the importance of rape. They begin with a rhetorical question: "Isn't killing an innocent baby for a crime committed by his father illogical?" Others, like one anti-abortion activist, have compared the degree of the penalty of 'the father' versus that of 'the child': A rapist receives 12 years in prison. But a child conceived during a rape receives capital punishment! In addition, they try to minimize the phenomenon of rape, by insisting that rape happens very rarely and that fecondation due to rape is even rarer. Pro-life advocates explain that fecondation during rape may fail to occur due to one of several circumstances. The woman may be too old or too young to conceive, ill, or sterile, or it may be that she is using a contraceptive device or that her ovulation is blocked by the emotional trauma. The rapist may also be infertile, ill, or unable to fin-
Abortion in Poland
31
ish the sexual act . . . . These supposedly scientific arguments end with the support of an illustration. One psychologist working in an outpatient clinic claimed:
Highly developed civilizations which promote wealth and prosperity do not begin in territories with low density populations. (Wi~niewska-Roszkowska, 1988, p. 89)
You talk about a justifiable abortion in the case of pregnancy as a result of rape. It is absurd to even discuss this problem. We've never seen a woman with this problem at our facility. 5
Of course they avoid examples which would prove just the opposite: those numbers which indicate that in big cities poverty is associated with crime and alienation. Pro-choice supporters assert that:
The statistical evidence of rape in different countries elicits yet another change in argumentation, along the same lines as in the case of therapeutic abortion. Pro-life supporters suggest that women are guilty of provoking rape and in specific instances have said that, "She got what she asked for." The problem of rape in the family and in marriage is never examined. The hypothesis of forced sexual relations is so abstract that it is never subjected to serious reflection. These moralists think only about 'the unborn child,' paying no attention to the raped woman. They try to persuade the woman that it is her child as well, and that she must choose the altruistic solution: to continue her pregnancy to term (what is called "giving him a refuge in her womb") and later to give the child up for adoption.
Pathology, crime, sexual deviation, and mental illness correlate strongly with the conditions of extremely close living quarters. (Kolarzowski & Prltorak, 1991, p. 3)
SOCIAL SITUATION ISN'T THE MAIN THING... Considering the attitudes of Church experts' toward fetal malformation and rape, it is no wonder that the social reasons for abortion are even more hotly contested by these spokesp e o p l e . T h e y a l l o w that i m p r o v e m e n t in financial and material conditions, such as the m e a g e r h o u s i n g situation of m o s t Poles, could help pregnant women and all poor families, and in this way limit the n u m b e r of abortions in Poland. Yet at the same time these experts minimize the economic problems of everyday life in Poland, by claiming that women have had children in much more difficult circumstances: during wars and in Nazi-concentration camps, as well as in poor countries and slums. Then abruptly they add that the cure for poverty is not 'to kill the children of poor people.' Pro-life advocates insist that high birth rates and prosperity are not in opposition because:
In the fight to criminalize abortion, Catholic experts use demographic arguments as well. While neglecting the evidence of world population increase, they choose to focus on the falling birth rates and aging populations of highly developed countries. 6 Their fear of projected demographic change in Poland and the world is hidden under the guise of patriotism. Whether local, national, European, or 'white,' such 'patriotism' cannot escape overtones of racism and ethnocentrism. Because Europe and North America, and in general the white race, are not experiencing high demographic development, their populations are growing older and older. This means a slow process of dying. ( . . . ) So, due to the high birth rates in Asia and Africa, are we in Europe obliged to accelerate our dying? 7
DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY The attitudes d e m o n s t r a t e d by C a t h o l i c experts toward the recent law prohibiting abortion have been rather idealistic. They protested when pro-choice supporters asked about the practical, real effects of this law, such as 'tourist abortions' and the creation of a 'gynecological underground.' Optimistic prolife advocates simply declare that "this law will eliminate abortions"; while the realists respond, "this law will limit abortions"; and the dogmatists reply, asserting that "Even if only one unborn child is saved, it means our new law is a good one."
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JACQUELINEHEINENand ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
P r o - l i f e experts b e c a m e angry w h e n asked a b o u t the p e n a l t y , i m p r i s o n m e n t , f o r t h o s e d o c t o r s and w o m e n w h o v i o l a t e the law. 8 A t o n c e they insist that the law is m e a n t to protect u n b o r n children, not to put w o m e n in jail; but n e v e r t h e l e s s , a law is a law. T h e e x p e r t s ' go on to c l a i m that, "It reveals bad intent to see this p r o j e c t as d i r e c t e d against w o m e n . " T h e y d i s i n g e n u o u s l y assert that m o s t w o m e n will not r e c e i v e the m o s t s e v e r e penalty. T h e q u e s t i o n of w h o w o u l d take care o f the child r e n o f a j a i l e d m o t h e r e l i c i t e d an o f f h a n d response: "family, neighbours, o r p h a n a g e s . . . " A n d w h o will pay for it? " W e ' l l h a v e to wait and see!" C o m p l e t e l y i g n o r e d was the issue o f illegal abortions performed under unsanitary conditions and by untrained b a c k - a l l e y abortionists, w h i c h often c a u s e w o m e n to suffer infections, c o m p l i c a t i o n s , and e v e n death. M o r e liberal idealists feel that it should be left to the c o m p e t e n c e and m o r a l c o n v i c t i o n o f the d o c t o r to d e c i d e w h i c h life should be saved, that o f the m o t h e r o r t h a t o f t h e c h i l d . A p p a r e n t l y it w o u l d be u n t h i n k a b l e to l e a v e it to the c o m p e t e n c e and moral c o n v i c t i o n o f the m o t h e r to decide the fate of her own life and body. M u t i n g their o p t i m i s m , s o m e p r o - l i f e experts reluctantly a d m i t that the p r o b l e m o f abortion c a n n o t be r e s o l v e d by m e r e l y passing legislation. They concede that positive solutions such as i m p r o v e m e n t in l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s and financial assistance for p o o r w o m e n m u s t also be pursued. H o w e v e r , they lack the i m a g i n a t i o n to p r o p o s e s u c h p r o g r a m s t h e m s e l v e s . A m i d s t the g e n e r a l uproar o f p r o - l i f e enthusiasts w e f o u n d o n e r e a l i s t w h o c o n f i d e d his doubt to us. People are not ready for such a law, I d o n ' t even consider Poland a Catholic country, although 90% of the population is baptised, and some 30% go to church regularly. In reality only 1% are true Catholics: those who live in accordance with G o d ' s Commandments.
the p r o - l i f e m o v e m e n t has d e v e l o p e d its o w n r h e t o r i c a l s t r u c t u r e . F r o m t h e o u t s e t o f this d i s c o u r s e , s c i e n t i f i c a r g u m e n t s are s u b s u m e d under religious and ideological ones. In a d d i t i o n , the u s e o f c a r e f u l l y c h o s e n t e r m s f a c i l i t a t e s s e m a n t i c m a n i p u l a t i o n t h r o u g h the various techniques of elimination, selection, negation, illustration, and 'minimization.' W h e r e v e r this w e l l - h e a r s e d d i s c o u r s e is p r o m u l g a t e d - - at c h u r c h , in s c h o o l s , on t e l e v i s i o n , in n e w s p a p e r s , o r d u r i n g l e g i s l a t i v e s e s s i o n s - - its i n f l u e n c e o v e r the attitudes o f m a n y o f its listeners is u n m i s t a k a b l e ; m a r k e d by a retreat behind church doctrine and a refusal to a d d r e s s b o t h the c a u s e s o f a b o r t i o n and the real, concrete effects of Poland's new prohibition. ENDNOTES 1. We also interviewed 68 persons living in big towns - Warsaw and L6d~ - - workers and members of the intelligentsia, two thirds women and one third men. In this article we call them 'lay people' or "average people.' Their attitudes toward abortion and contraception are one of the main topics of our study. 2. Our interviews with experts and lay people and content analysis of mass media comprise the source of all examples. More detailed information is available in Matuchniak-Krasuska (1992). 3. See also M. Gtowifiski (1990). 4. Pro-choice supporters counter that according to this logic it is immoral to shave one's beard, because hair growth on a face is a natural phenomena. See also Ho~6wka (I 982). 5. See also Willke (1990). 6. Other indicators are used as well: falling birth rates in developed countries and the decrease of the world's white population. 7. The UN indicator shows that a 'demographically aging' society is one in which more than 7% of the population is over 65 years of age. In 1967-1970 this indicator was 12.6% in France and 12.7% in Great Britain. In Poland it was 8% (Wi~niewska-Roszkowska, 1988). 8. According to a new law passed March 16, 1993, a doctor who performs an illegal abortion risks a possible sentence of 3 years in prison. The women themselves do not risk imprisonment. The original 1989 proposal provided that women, doctors, and all participants would to serve 3 to 5 years in prison. REFERENCES
CONCLUSION In o r d e r to r e f u t e the c i r c u m s t a n c e s u n d e r which abortion was permitted under the 1 9 5 6 l a w (i.e., t h e r a p e u t i c a b o r t i o n , f e t a l m a l f o r m a t i o n , rape, and s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s ) ,
Czyzewski, Marek, Dunin, Kinga, & Piotrowski, Andrzej (Eds.). (1992). Cudze problemy [Someone else's problems]. Warszawa: Ogrodek Badala Sptoecznych. G~owifiski, Michat. (1990). Nowomowa po polsku [Polish "new-language"]. Warszawa: PEN. Heinen, Jacqueline, Matuchniak-Krasuska, Anna. (1992). L'Avortement en Pologne: La croix et la banniere
Abortion in Poland
[Abortion in Poland: A vicious circle]. Paris: L' Harmattan. H~6wka, Jacek. (1982). Nikt nie rodzi sie kobieta [Nobody is born a woman]. Warszawa: Czytelnik. Kolarzowski, Czes~aw, & P6ttorak, Stefan. (1991). Przerywanie ci~t~,y- konflikt gwiatopogl~dowy i spoteczny [Abortion - - a conflict of philosophy of life and law]. Polityka SpoCeczna [Social Politics], 3, 9-13. Matuchniak-Krasuska, Anna. (1992). Kategorie i reguly polskiego dyskursu o aborcji [Categories and principles of Polish discourse of abortion]. In Marek Czy~'ewski, Kinga Dunin, & Andrzej Piotrowski (Eds.), Cudze problemy (Somebody else's problems; pp. 100-122).
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Warszawa: Osrodek Radafi Spo.lecznych. Michalik, Rafat. (1990). Ocal ~ycie bezbronnemu [Save an innocent life]. NiepokalanOw: Wydawnictowo Ojc6w Franciszkan6w, p. 18. Willke, Jack and Willke, Barbara. (1990). Aborcja: Pytania i odpowiedzi [Abortion: Questions and answers]. Gdarisk: Stella Maris. Wigniewska-Roszkowska, Kinga. (1986). Problemy wsp61"aczesnego erotyzmu [Problems of contemporary erotism]. Warszawa: Akademia Teologii Katolickiej. Wigniewska-Roszkowska, Kinga. (1988). Seks i rnoralnog6 [Sex and morality]. Krak6w: Michalineum.
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0277-5395(94)00077-8
ABORTION IN POLAND: A VICIOUS CIRCLE OR A GOOD USE OF RHETORIC A Sociological Study of the Political Discourse of Abortion in Poland JACQUELINE HEINEN University Paris VII, 16 rue de Montreuil, 75011 Pads, France ANNA MATUCHNIAK-KRAsUSKA University ofL6dZ, ul. Sienkiewicza 59 m. 18, 90-009 LrdZ, Poland Translated by Kimber Simpson
Synopsis - - The linguistic and semiotic analysis of the discourse over the political, social, and medical aspects of abortion is the topic of this article. In the fall of 1989 we interviewed 30 experts from various professional backgrounds who held opposing viewpoints on abortion. Half were pro-life; half were prochoice. The analysis of the terminology employed by pro-life experts reveals several techniques of semantic manipulation: the elimination of neutral terms and their replacement by convenient synonyms, the exclusion of some words, and the redefinition of others. This modified terminology serves to create a discourse completely biased toward the "defense of life." Negation, selection, illustration, and minimization are techniques of semantic manipulation. They are applied against women's rights to abortion in several juridical cases, like therapeutic abortion, deformation of the fetus, rapes, the difficult social situation of a pregnant woman. A source of all examples is provided by our interviews with experts and lay people and content analysis of mass media.
EXPERTS AND LAYPEOPLE
work as well. Both their style o f speaking and their opinions or activity proved revealing s u b j e c t s o f study. W e f o u n d it i n t e r e s t i n g to c o m p a r e the use o f l a n g u a g e by pro-life and pro-choice experts; the latter used conventional a n d a c c e p t e d t e r m i n o l o g y , both p o p u l a r a n d comprehensible, while the former constructed a special terminology, which clearly manifested their moral attitudes. T h i s t y p e o f s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c a n a l y s i s is e s s e n t i a l b e c a u s e it s h o w s c l e a r l y the a b y s s b e t w e e n lay people and experts.! In our study, "average" people spoke m a i n l y about the problems o f everyday life. They found it difficult to understand w h y priests refused or were u n a b l e to take into a c c o u n t present social c o n d i t i o n s such as poverty, u n e m p l o y m e n t , the h o u s i n g shortage, a l c o h o l i s m , a n d illness. S o m e rapp r o c h m e n t must be made b e t w e e n the declaration of a pro-life activist that " h u m a n life is a s u p r e m e value" and the statement o f a w o m a n worker in a L6dZ factory:
T h e l i n g u i s t i c a n d s e m i o t i c a n a l y s i s o f the discourse over the political, social, and m e d i c a l a s p e c t s o f a b o r t i o n is the topic o f this article. In the fall o f 1989 we spoke to 30 experts from various professional backgrounds who h e l d o p p o s i n g v i e w p o i n t s on a b o r t i o n . H a l f were pro-life, a n d h a l f were pro-choice. O u r i n t e r v i e w s i n c l u d e d doctors (especially gynecologists a n d sexologists), journalists, politicians, a n d priests. A l l o f them were actively engaged in the political discourse over the n e w l e g i s l a t i v e p r o p o s a l "to protect u n b o r n children," and most o f them took part in legislative This study was carried out in 1989 by Anna Matuchniak-Krasuska, University of L6dL and Jacqueline Heinen, University of Paris VII. The authors' book, published in French, is entitled, L'Avortement en Pologne: La C r o i x et la B a n n i e r e [Abortion in Poland: A Vicious Circle], L'Harmattan, Paris, 1992. 27
28
JACQUELINEHEI'NENand ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
Bearing children is not the problem. Having the conditions in which to educate them; that is the question. Do you know what our working conditions, family lives, and housing situations are like? We have no milk to give our children, no medicine, no money to take them on holidays . . . . Of course we don't even have contraceptives, and when your husband comes home drunk at night he hasn't done anything about it. Women aren't machines for producing babies! They must want their children and love them! In our research we learned that it is not unusual for Catholic experts, and doctors as well, to impress upon their women clients their personal opinions about abortion and contraception. In front of patients, such doctors often hide their ideological convictions under their professional competence. One gynecologist in L6d~ confessed to us that, unknown to her patients: When I've had to take into consideration the disparity between medical policies and those imposed by the Church, I've consulted a priest and followed his advocacy. Such attitudes have provoked an ironic response from pro-choice supporters concerning whom such doctors really represent. Does s/he wear a "white uniform or black robe?" One doctor who has refused to impose Catholic ideology on her professional work declared: To engage in scientific discourse with a fanatic is impossible. As a doctor you must take into account both of your patients: the mother and the child. I do my best. I work in an obstetric hospital which helps women from all over Poland who are dealing with difficult pregnancies. I am firmly opposed to abortion and I try to save every unborn child. But I am also firmly opposed to killing women; women who have not been informed of the risks they face due to the doctor's obligation to continue a pregnancy which endangers the woman's life and health! These examples show how difficult the discussion over abortion is: Debate rages not only between the opposing positions of pro-life and pro-choice, nor just between lay people and experts, but among the experts themselves.
MANIPULATION THROUGH SEMANTIC EXERCISES 2 Both the content and the structure of the discourse used by the representatives of the Church merit detailed examination. The analysis of the terminology employed by pro-life experts reveals several techniques of semantic manipulation: The elimination of neutral terms and their replacement by "convenient" synonyms, the exclusion of some words, and the redefinition of others. Such elimination and replacement are used frequently by Church experts to alter the emotional associations of certain expressions. The words used in everyday language as well as in scientific terminology are considered by prolife supporters to be too neutral, or insufficiently 'evocative.' Embryo and fetus, for example, are replaced by synonyms such as 'conceived child,' 'unborn child,' 'baby,' 'little boy,' 'little girl,' and so forth. The term p r e g n a n t w o m a n is replaced by 'mother.' 'Murder' or 'mutilation of the child in its mother's womb' is substituted for abortion or interrupted pregnancy. The word curettage is also judged as too benign; it is termed rather 'the butchering of a child.' The doctor is an 'abortionist' who doesn't work in a hospital or a clinic but in an 'abortion chamber,' a phrase which explicitly evokes Nazi-type concentration camps. Every effort in favor of the right to choose is called 'anti-life' or serving the 'network of infanticide.' Information disseminated in schools by teachers or even doctors, which deals openly with sex and contraception, is called 'immoral sexual propaganda.' Under the pen of pro-life advocates, the 'right to have an abortion' becomes the 'right to kill.' When pro-life supporters are unable to simply eliminate the specific terms used by their adversaries, they try to modify the sense of these terms. One common technique is the application of adjectives which have emotional connotations. 3 Thus, 'bad,' or negative adjectives (i.e., immoral, unnatural, unscientific) are associated with pro-choice arguments. And 'good,' positive adjectives are used to describe their own arguments. In this way 'pregnancy,' or 'awaiting the birth of a child,' is considered as a physiological situation and is designated natural and moral. But an 'abortion' is not a physiological situation, and thus is designated unnatural and immoral. In this dualistic opposition, there is no place for the physiological
Abortion in Poland
phenomena of the complications associated with pregnancy and child-birth, which can result in illness, mutilation, or even death. The identification of 'moral' with 'natural' also provides ammunition for the fight against contraceptives, laying the groundwork for the claim that contraceptives are unnatural and therefore immoral. 4 In the practice of this art of using adjectives, pro-life advocates have even resorted to calling the 1956 law 'totalitarian,' 'communist,' 'Stalinist,' and 'Hitlerist.' Replacement is a blatant way of altering meanings; pro-life discourse uses more subtle means as well. Simply changing the context of a word or phrase can significantly modify its meaning. The construction of specific semantic sequences can cause words to lose their autonomy and take on new connotations. Hidden implications replace the formal conjunctions. For example, the title of the paper "Pornography, Contraception, Abortion, and Euthanasia," suggests that each previous phenomenon causes the following one. Another example (this time a positive one) is the popular term Polish = Catholic, which subtlely suggests that one cannot be a true patriot unless one is faithful to the Church. Another effective way in which prolife advocates change the sense of words is to tack their own assertions onto the end of their opponents' arguments in order to distort their opponents' opinions. When pro-choice supporters criticize that pro-life activists "impose a Catholic morality on all people," the latter attack that their enemies "impose their morality on innocent children." The final method used by pro-life supporters to alter the meanings of words is simply to give certain terms new definitions. Thus, conception is defined as 'fertilization' rather than as the implantation of a fetus in the uterus. This definition places first trimester abortions and IUDs (which are considered 'abortive') into the same category as very late abortions (which have always been illegal). In addition, pro-life advocates are u n w i l l i n g to a c c e p t the World H e a l t h Organization's definition of health, which includes not only the absence of illness, but also an individual's good physical, mental, and social condition. Their refusal stems from the possibility that this broad definition could provide the legal basis for the necessity of abortion in terms of the danger pregnancy may pose to the quality of women's life and health.
29
T H E ART OF ESCAPE Terminology modified in this way serves to arm a discourse completely biased toward the 'defense of life.' Its users also have recourse to other w e l l - d e v e l o p e d techniques, such as restricting the debate to general terms and refusing to answer questions concerning the problems of specific individuals. Catholic 'experts' respond to the statement that 'women have the right to choose their own maternity' with the assertion that 'falling birth-rates risk the annihilation of the Polish nation.' Another technique is the selection of lawyers', doctors', and moralists' quotations, which are reprinted in pro-life publications. Then Catholic 'experts' try to pass off such statements as those of the entire scientific community or as those of its most advanced wing. In addition, specific cases are presented not as illustrations but as a proof of the theories which they advance. Or then again, pro-life advocates simply deny phenomena which do not suit them; when this negation is impossible they do their best to play down the incongruous elements (what is called here ' minimization'). W O M E N ' S RIGHTS A N D THE DUTY TO SACRIFICE Witness the logic of their argument developed on the subject of therapeutic abortion. Pro-life 'experts' start out by stating that the problem does not exist, that scientific progress has eradicated all risk to the life and health of a pregnant mother. They go on to exhort, Don't let them kill your baby! Try to find an honest doctor who will take care of a mother in "her blessed condition" and her unborn child as well. (Ocal2ycie bezbronnernu [Save an innocent life], Nlepokalan6w, 1990). Confronted with evidence from various cardiological, nephrological, or neurological specialists, who attest to the v e r y great risk incurred by women with diabetes, heart, kidney, or vertebral-column ailments (risks which grow as scientific progress helps those who might otherwise die in childhood), Catholic 'experts' admit that such dangers exist but are very rare. They argue that one can never be certain in a difficult pregnancy, that there is always a chance that both the woman and the
30
JACQUELINEHEINEN and ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
child will survive. Yet when further pressed, they completely abandon scientific arguments in order to emphasize religious issues: One cannot save the life of the mother at the price of the unborn child's, because the life of the latter is a gift from God. Moreover, possible complications do not pose a problem for a 'real' mother, because maternity implies her complete devotion to and willing sacrifice for her child. They explain that, In certain rare cases, women are bound to acts of extreme maternal devotion, even at the cost of their lives. The Catholic ethic demands heroism on their part. Finally, when their adversaries question the appropriateness of such arguments, by pointing out that they impose Catholic values on nonbelievers, pro-life activists abandon religious justification in favor of more general ideological discourse and appeals to humanitarian principles for the protection of life. "The legal protection of the life of the unborn child constitutes the first and principal requirement of all humanism," stated one ecclesiast interviewed. This is essentially a paraphrase of the analogous opinion put forward by Cardinal Wyszyfiki in 1956: Inasmuch as the life of an unborn child is concerned, it is of little importance whether you are a believer or not; it's enough to be a human being. In the discussion over abortion in the case of the deformation of the fetus, we can see the same techniques of manipulation. Pro-life supporters begin by claiming that such cases occur very infrequently and go on to admonish that medicine should cure ill children rather than kill them. Then they add that even if such treatment is impossible now, because of the lack of medical knowledge or financial means, perhaps it will be possible in the future. Their argument ends on an ideological note: "Each human life is inviolable, independent of its 'quality.'" This battle is not limited to the 'minimization' of fetal deformities. It also extends to the negation of the importance of prenatal examinations, which would be indicative of this kind of deformation. Pro-life advocates suggest that the proportion of false results in prenatal tests
is so great that such tests should not even be taken into consideration. They claim that the negative results of such tests put psychological pressure on pregnant women to abort. An illustration using a case study is used as proof. The following is an example of such manipulation by a gynecologist: I was told about several cases of such "scare tactics." One even happened in my own family. I remember very well how terrified this young mother was. In the third month of her pregnancy she tearfully learned that she was carrying a malformed child. She was "warned" against carrying it to term by a gynecologist. Of course she didn't have an abortion and now this supposed monster is a handsome, healthy and very clever boy. He is a good pupil at school. (WigniewskaRoszkowska, 1986, p. 252) In addition, it is not unusual for Catholic doctors who harbor such attitudes to assure the pregnant women in their care of the perfect health of their fetuses without having done any tests to determine it. RAPES THAT NEVER H A P P E N E D . . . Using the same techniques of semantic manipulation, pro-life supporters also minimize the importance of rape. They begin with a rhetorical question: "Isn't killing an innocent baby for a crime committed by his father illogical?" Others, like one anti-abortion activist, have compared the degree of the penalty of 'the father' versus that of 'the child': A rapist receives 12 years in prison. But a child conceived during a rape receives capital punishment! In addition, they try to minimize the phenomenon of rape, by insisting that rape happens very rarely and that fecondation due to rape is even rarer. Pro-life advocates explain that fecondation during rape may fail to occur due to one of several circumstances. The woman may be too old or too young to conceive, ill, or sterile, or it may be that she is using a contraceptive device or that her ovulation is blocked by the emotional trauma. The rapist may also be infertile, ill, or unable to fin-
Abortion in Poland
31
ish the sexual act . . . . These supposedly scientific arguments end with the support of an illustration. One psychologist working in an outpatient clinic claimed:
Highly developed civilizations which promote wealth and prosperity do not begin in territories with low density populations. (Wi~niewska-Roszkowska, 1988, p. 89)
You talk about a justifiable abortion in the case of pregnancy as a result of rape. It is absurd to even discuss this problem. We've never seen a woman with this problem at our facility. 5
Of course they avoid examples which would prove just the opposite: those numbers which indicate that in big cities poverty is associated with crime and alienation. Pro-choice supporters assert that:
The statistical evidence of rape in different countries elicits yet another change in argumentation, along the same lines as in the case of therapeutic abortion. Pro-life supporters suggest that women are guilty of provoking rape and in specific instances have said that, "She got what she asked for." The problem of rape in the family and in marriage is never examined. The hypothesis of forced sexual relations is so abstract that it is never subjected to serious reflection. These moralists think only about 'the unborn child,' paying no attention to the raped woman. They try to persuade the woman that it is her child as well, and that she must choose the altruistic solution: to continue her pregnancy to term (what is called "giving him a refuge in her womb") and later to give the child up for adoption.
Pathology, crime, sexual deviation, and mental illness correlate strongly with the conditions of extremely close living quarters. (Kolarzowski & Prltorak, 1991, p. 3)
SOCIAL SITUATION ISN'T THE MAIN THING... Considering the attitudes of Church experts' toward fetal malformation and rape, it is no wonder that the social reasons for abortion are even more hotly contested by these spokesp e o p l e . T h e y a l l o w that i m p r o v e m e n t in financial and material conditions, such as the m e a g e r h o u s i n g situation of m o s t Poles, could help pregnant women and all poor families, and in this way limit the n u m b e r of abortions in Poland. Yet at the same time these experts minimize the economic problems of everyday life in Poland, by claiming that women have had children in much more difficult circumstances: during wars and in Nazi-concentration camps, as well as in poor countries and slums. Then abruptly they add that the cure for poverty is not 'to kill the children of poor people.' Pro-life advocates insist that high birth rates and prosperity are not in opposition because:
In the fight to criminalize abortion, Catholic experts use demographic arguments as well. While neglecting the evidence of world population increase, they choose to focus on the falling birth rates and aging populations of highly developed countries. 6 Their fear of projected demographic change in Poland and the world is hidden under the guise of patriotism. Whether local, national, European, or 'white,' such 'patriotism' cannot escape overtones of racism and ethnocentrism. Because Europe and North America, and in general the white race, are not experiencing high demographic development, their populations are growing older and older. This means a slow process of dying. ( . . . ) So, due to the high birth rates in Asia and Africa, are we in Europe obliged to accelerate our dying? 7
DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY The attitudes d e m o n s t r a t e d by C a t h o l i c experts toward the recent law prohibiting abortion have been rather idealistic. They protested when pro-choice supporters asked about the practical, real effects of this law, such as 'tourist abortions' and the creation of a 'gynecological underground.' Optimistic prolife advocates simply declare that "this law will eliminate abortions"; while the realists respond, "this law will limit abortions"; and the dogmatists reply, asserting that "Even if only one unborn child is saved, it means our new law is a good one."
32
JACQUELINEHEINENand ANNAMATUCHNIAK-KRASUSKA
P r o - l i f e experts b e c a m e angry w h e n asked a b o u t the p e n a l t y , i m p r i s o n m e n t , f o r t h o s e d o c t o r s and w o m e n w h o v i o l a t e the law. 8 A t o n c e they insist that the law is m e a n t to protect u n b o r n children, not to put w o m e n in jail; but n e v e r t h e l e s s , a law is a law. T h e e x p e r t s ' go on to c l a i m that, "It reveals bad intent to see this p r o j e c t as d i r e c t e d against w o m e n . " T h e y d i s i n g e n u o u s l y assert that m o s t w o m e n will not r e c e i v e the m o s t s e v e r e penalty. T h e q u e s t i o n of w h o w o u l d take care o f the child r e n o f a j a i l e d m o t h e r e l i c i t e d an o f f h a n d response: "family, neighbours, o r p h a n a g e s . . . " A n d w h o will pay for it? " W e ' l l h a v e to wait and see!" C o m p l e t e l y i g n o r e d was the issue o f illegal abortions performed under unsanitary conditions and by untrained b a c k - a l l e y abortionists, w h i c h often c a u s e w o m e n to suffer infections, c o m p l i c a t i o n s , and e v e n death. M o r e liberal idealists feel that it should be left to the c o m p e t e n c e and m o r a l c o n v i c t i o n o f the d o c t o r to d e c i d e w h i c h life should be saved, that o f the m o t h e r o r t h a t o f t h e c h i l d . A p p a r e n t l y it w o u l d be u n t h i n k a b l e to l e a v e it to the c o m p e t e n c e and moral c o n v i c t i o n o f the m o t h e r to decide the fate of her own life and body. M u t i n g their o p t i m i s m , s o m e p r o - l i f e experts reluctantly a d m i t that the p r o b l e m o f abortion c a n n o t be r e s o l v e d by m e r e l y passing legislation. They concede that positive solutions such as i m p r o v e m e n t in l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s and financial assistance for p o o r w o m e n m u s t also be pursued. H o w e v e r , they lack the i m a g i n a t i o n to p r o p o s e s u c h p r o g r a m s t h e m s e l v e s . A m i d s t the g e n e r a l uproar o f p r o - l i f e enthusiasts w e f o u n d o n e r e a l i s t w h o c o n f i d e d his doubt to us. People are not ready for such a law, I d o n ' t even consider Poland a Catholic country, although 90% of the population is baptised, and some 30% go to church regularly. In reality only 1% are true Catholics: those who live in accordance with G o d ' s Commandments.
the p r o - l i f e m o v e m e n t has d e v e l o p e d its o w n r h e t o r i c a l s t r u c t u r e . F r o m t h e o u t s e t o f this d i s c o u r s e , s c i e n t i f i c a r g u m e n t s are s u b s u m e d under religious and ideological ones. In a d d i t i o n , the u s e o f c a r e f u l l y c h o s e n t e r m s f a c i l i t a t e s s e m a n t i c m a n i p u l a t i o n t h r o u g h the various techniques of elimination, selection, negation, illustration, and 'minimization.' W h e r e v e r this w e l l - h e a r s e d d i s c o u r s e is p r o m u l g a t e d - - at c h u r c h , in s c h o o l s , on t e l e v i s i o n , in n e w s p a p e r s , o r d u r i n g l e g i s l a t i v e s e s s i o n s - - its i n f l u e n c e o v e r the attitudes o f m a n y o f its listeners is u n m i s t a k a b l e ; m a r k e d by a retreat behind church doctrine and a refusal to a d d r e s s b o t h the c a u s e s o f a b o r t i o n and the real, concrete effects of Poland's new prohibition. ENDNOTES 1. We also interviewed 68 persons living in big towns - Warsaw and L6d~ - - workers and members of the intelligentsia, two thirds women and one third men. In this article we call them 'lay people' or "average people.' Their attitudes toward abortion and contraception are one of the main topics of our study. 2. Our interviews with experts and lay people and content analysis of mass media comprise the source of all examples. More detailed information is available in Matuchniak-Krasuska (1992). 3. See also M. Gtowifiski (1990). 4. Pro-choice supporters counter that according to this logic it is immoral to shave one's beard, because hair growth on a face is a natural phenomena. See also Ho~6wka (I 982). 5. See also Willke (1990). 6. Other indicators are used as well: falling birth rates in developed countries and the decrease of the world's white population. 7. The UN indicator shows that a 'demographically aging' society is one in which more than 7% of the population is over 65 years of age. In 1967-1970 this indicator was 12.6% in France and 12.7% in Great Britain. In Poland it was 8% (Wi~niewska-Roszkowska, 1988). 8. According to a new law passed March 16, 1993, a doctor who performs an illegal abortion risks a possible sentence of 3 years in prison. The women themselves do not risk imprisonment. The original 1989 proposal provided that women, doctors, and all participants would to serve 3 to 5 years in prison. REFERENCES
CONCLUSION In o r d e r to r e f u t e the c i r c u m s t a n c e s u n d e r which abortion was permitted under the 1 9 5 6 l a w (i.e., t h e r a p e u t i c a b o r t i o n , f e t a l m a l f o r m a t i o n , rape, and s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s ) ,
Czyzewski, Marek, Dunin, Kinga, & Piotrowski, Andrzej (Eds.). (1992). Cudze problemy [Someone else's problems]. Warszawa: Ogrodek Badala Sptoecznych. G~owifiski, Michat. (1990). Nowomowa po polsku [Polish "new-language"]. Warszawa: PEN. Heinen, Jacqueline, Matuchniak-Krasuska, Anna. (1992). L'Avortement en Pologne: La croix et la banniere
Abortion in Poland
[Abortion in Poland: A vicious circle]. Paris: L' Harmattan. H~6wka, Jacek. (1982). Nikt nie rodzi sie kobieta [Nobody is born a woman]. Warszawa: Czytelnik. Kolarzowski, Czes~aw, & P6ttorak, Stefan. (1991). Przerywanie ci~t~,y- konflikt gwiatopogl~dowy i spoteczny [Abortion - - a conflict of philosophy of life and law]. Polityka SpoCeczna [Social Politics], 3, 9-13. Matuchniak-Krasuska, Anna. (1992). Kategorie i reguly polskiego dyskursu o aborcji [Categories and principles of Polish discourse of abortion]. In Marek Czy~'ewski, Kinga Dunin, & Andrzej Piotrowski (Eds.), Cudze problemy (Somebody else's problems; pp. 100-122).
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Warszawa: Osrodek Radafi Spo.lecznych. Michalik, Rafat. (1990). Ocal ~ycie bezbronnemu [Save an innocent life]. NiepokalanOw: Wydawnictowo Ojc6w Franciszkan6w, p. 18. Willke, Jack and Willke, Barbara. (1990). Aborcja: Pytania i odpowiedzi [Abortion: Questions and answers]. Gdarisk: Stella Maris. Wigniewska-Roszkowska, Kinga. (1986). Problemy wsp61"aczesnego erotyzmu [Problems of contemporary erotism]. Warszawa: Akademia Teologii Katolickiej. Wigniewska-Roszkowska, Kinga. (1988). Seks i rnoralnog6 [Sex and morality]. Krak6w: Michalineum.