Mishtal Joanna, Dannefer Rachel
University of Central Florida, Department of Anthropology, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA.
Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 2010 Aug;15(4):232-42. doi: 10.3109/13625187.2010.498595.
After the fall of state socialism in Poland in 1989, a Catholic-nationalist government assumed power. The new political power of the Catholic Church resulted in severe restrictions on family planning (FP) services. Yet, Poland's fertility rate declined sharply, suggesting that women are controlling their fertility despite restrictions. This study examined the Church's influence on women's contraceptive decisions, and how women reconcile religious teachings with their contraceptive use.
We conducted a mixed-methods study, including a cross-sectional survey and qualitative interviews, in Gdańsk, Poland with sexually active women aged 18-40. The quantitative sample included 418 respondents; the qualitative sample included 49 respondents.
Despite restrictions on FP services, modern contraceptive use among our sample was 56%, up from 19% in 1991. Catholicism played a relatively small role in respondents' contraceptive decisions; though 94.2% of respondents were Catholic, 79% reported that the Church had little or no influence on reproductive decisions. Women's explanations for how they reconcile their reproductive practices with Catholicism included using elements of religion to support contraceptive use, prioritising responsibility for family and financial considerations over the Church's prohibitions, and challenging the Church's credibility in FP matters.
Our findings underscore women's struggles under post-socialist reproductive policies that limit FP access. Despite religious, political, and economic obstacles, contraceptive use has increased dramatically, indicating that FP is a high priority for women in Poland. Policies should respond to women's needs. Comprehensive, state-sponsored FP and sex education are urgently needed and the state should legitimise such services.
1989年波兰国家社会主义体制瓦解后，一个天主教民族主义政府掌权。天主教会的新政治权力导致对计划生育（FP）服务的严格限制。然而，波兰的生育率急剧下降，这表明尽管存在限制，女性仍在控制自己的生育。本研究考察了教会对女性避孕决策的影响，以及女性如何使宗教教义与她们的避孕行为相协调。
我们在波兰格但斯克对18 - 40岁有性行为的女性进行了一项混合方法研究，包括横断面调查和定性访谈。定量样本包括418名受访者；定性样本包括49名受访者。
尽管对FP服务有限制，但我们样本中的现代避孕使用率为56%，高于1991年的19%。天主教在受访者的避孕决策中作用相对较小；尽管94.2%的受访者是天主教徒，但79%的受访者表示教会对生育决策几乎没有影响。女性对她们如何使生育行为与天主教教义相协调的解释包括利用宗教元素来支持避孕行为、将对家庭的责任和经济考虑置于教会禁令之上，以及质疑教会在FP问题上的可信度。
我们的研究结果突显了后社会主义生殖政策下女性在获取FP服务受限方面的挣扎。尽管存在宗教、政治和经济障碍，避孕使用率仍大幅上升，这表明FP是波兰女性的高度优先事项。政策应回应女性需求。迫切需要全面的、国家资助的FP和性教育，国家应使此类服务合法化。
