Ochrona życia w prawie kanonicznym i polskim

Abstract

In accordance with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, protection and defense of human life along with conception has been regulated in provisions covering crimes against human life and freedom. Furthermore, the Catholic Church in the Catechism provides a clear position about protection and defense of human life. According to art. 38 of the Constitution of 1997 the Republic of Poland provides the legal protection of the life of every human being. The lower temporal limit of human life was determined by the legislator in the Act on the Ombudsman for Children of 2000. According to it “within the meaning of the Act, a child is every human being from conception to the age of majority,” and the Ombudsman for Children works to protect the rights of the child, in particular the right to life and its protection. In addition, in Polish law, the legislator in the Act on family planning, protection of the human fetus and conditions for the admissibility of termination of pregnancy of 1993, specified the situations in which abortion may be legally performed.