Polish pro-life advocates gathered Saturday to hold a funeral and burial for 640 unborn babies who died in abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths.
The Catholic News Agency reports Bishop Kazimierz Gurda of Siedlce led the funeral mass for the babies at the Church of Holy Trinity in Gończyce, Poland.
“These children have the right to a worthy burial as they are persons from the moment of conception. The right to life is a right that cannot be taken away from anyone, including and above all from a defenseless child in the womb,” Gurda said during the service.
Afterward, attendees gathered at a local cemetery where the babies were laid to rest in coffins, according to the report.
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Gurda said every human being who has received the “gift of life from God” deserves to be loved and honored.
“Even if their life story ended in a few months, even before they were born, it doesn’t mean they ceased to exist. A person’s life changes, but it doesn’t end. Their life goes on. God has prolonged it for all eternity,” the bishop said.
The funeral is one of many organized by Polish pro-life advocate Maria Bienkiewicz of the New Nazareth Foundation. According to the report, Bienkiewicz has been organizing the funerals since 2005; and the babies for the service Saturday came from hospitals in Warsaw.
About 1,000 unborn babies are aborted in Poland every year, most due to disabilities. The country is one of the few in Europe that protects unborn babies’ right to life in most circumstances.
In October, its constitutional court struck down one of the few exceptions allowed in its 1993 abortion law: abortions on unborn babies with disabilities. The justices ruled that the exception violates the constitution because it discriminates against human beings with disabilities. If enforced, the ruling could save hundreds more babies’ lives in Poland each year.
Pro-life advocates in the United States and other countries also organize funerals and memorial services for unborn babies. In the fall, pro-lifers held more than 100 memorial services across the U.S. during the annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children.
