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Budapest W2: Politics of Reproduction - The Purest Citizens


Elzbieta Korolczuk.  2016. ‘The purest citizens’ and ‘IVF children’. Reproductive citizenship in contemporary Poland” Reproductive Biomedicine and Society Online, v. 3, December.


Public debate on reproductive technologies in contemporary Poland - opposition from Catholic Church and Politicians 

 "The opponents of IVF not only claim that the fertilised eggs are persons from the moment of fertilisation, they also set apart zygotes or embryos, which have a low implantation potential as a minority group claiming they should be treated as disabled people, and enjoy full citizens' rights including the right to undisturbed development and fulfilment in life." p.127

 The article examines "who is recognised as the subject; what kind of rights these subjects have and under what conditions they have full citizens' rights; and who is excluded, not given a voice and marginalised in this debate." p.127

 "The programme stipulated that the state would cover the expenses of up to three IVF cycles for women under the age of 40 who had already been treated for infertility for at least a year prior to joining the programme." p.128

 "In 2010 the representatives of the Church threatened MPs who supported liberal regulations with excommunication" p.128

 Ministry of Health "our goal [when preparing the legislation] was to have couples make use of the new law, not single women'" p.128

 "The first step towards gaining citizenship rights is the recognition of specific individuals and groups as citizens by the power-holders and the general public." p.129

 "the embryos made in the laboratories cease ‘to be the “private” objects of their parents’ and become ‘public “citizen subjects” and put under the guardianship of the state’" p.129

 "This ‘fetal citizen’ is constructed in a way as to occupy ‘the category of “person” in a citizenship mode – it is poised to actualize its rights in a specific political context’ (Holc, 2004: 757; see also Graff, 2001), and these rights overrule the rights of the pregnant woman to have control over her own body." p.129

 "Holc argues that while all liberal states need liberal citizens, the states which are ‘transitioning’ to democracy and liberalism need them most. Thus, ‘fetal citizen emerges as the purest citizen’ in contrast not only to women, but also other ‘(postnatal) subjects’ such as ‘Roma, black marketers and labor unionist (who) might be suspect in their commitments to capitalism, democratic procedures and the cultures of individualism’ (Holc, 2004: 776–777)." p.129

 "The main difference is that while abortion is supposed to result in not producing enough Polish babies, assisted reproduction leads to pro- ducing ‘monsters’ (Radkowska-Walkowicz, 2012)." p.130

 "The opponents of IVF – in this case Polish MPs – prefer to ask publicly ‘whether live children can and should be frozen?’ (Woźniak, 2012), confess that they ‘hear the cry of despair of the tens of thousands of frozen embryos’ (Gowin, 2009)" p.130

 "The goal is not to debate facts but to instill in the audience the belief that embryos and even fertilized eggs are human beings and that they are in grave danger." p.130

 "What appears as specific to the Polish context is that the opponents of IVF create the analogy between embryos diagnosed with certain abnormalities or which do not develop well in the earliest, post-fertilization stages, and people who are discriminated against due to a disability." p.130

 "embryos not chosen for implantation are described as ‘disabled people’ who are denied the right to life and a chance to achieve success in their lives." p.130

 "Using the rhetoric of human rights allows the opponents of reproductive technologies to claim that their opposition is motivated by medical facts and human rights standards, and not religious beliefs." p.130

 "The focus on the rights of ‘pre-natal’ citizens is not accompanied by concern for the rights of ‘postnatal’ citizens (Holc, 2004)." p.130

 "the real villains become doctors, experts, politicians, feminists and other proponents of assisted reproduction who allegedly represent the interests of a global ‘IVF industry’." p.131

 "The ways in which the opposition against IVF became intertwined with the war against ‘gender ideology’ in Poland, shows that the former is a facet of a broader conservative turn, which has emerged partly as a response to anxieties caused by recent developments in biotechnology and the fundamental changes they had caused in the sphere of kinship, reproduction and family" p.131

 "undermining the physical and mental health of children conceived with the use of reproductive technologies demonstrates that at stake are not only moral or religious values but national identity, interpreted in terms of blood, ‘stock’ and racial/ethnic purity." p.131

 "In the context of Polish debate on reproductive technologies ‘IVF children’ are constructed as genetically different, carrying the stigma of their parents’ and doctors’ transgression of moral and natural laws." p.131

 "Just like Jews, the children born after IVF are dangerous because they represent the ‘genetic other’, weakening the body of the Polish nation, and endangering its well-being and survival." p.131

 "The opponents of medical intervention in the sphere of procreation constitute new categories of political subjects, some of which – embryos – are attributed full citizen status, while others – the so-called (monstrous) ‘IVF children’ – are imagined to pose a threat to the Polish nation, and thus become an object of public scrutiny and discrimination." p.132

 "In practice, however, the new law makes reproductive citizenship contingent upon being married or part of a ‘stable’ heterosexual relationship, as the state limits access to reproductive technologies for persons affected by social rather than medical infertility." p.132

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