The Polish Catholic Church on IVF. Critical Discourse Analysis.

THE POLISH CATHOLIC CHURCH

ON IVFCRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Victoria Kamasa (Adam Mickiewicz University)

IVF IN POLAND• first: 12.11.1986 in Białystok;• total number of children born after IVF in 2009: 4100;• no legal regulations;• four bills concerning IVF under the debate in parliament:

• Total prohibition of IVF, punishment for doctors conducting it (PIS);• IVF accessible for every one with state health insurance (SLD);

o How IVF is constructed in the discourse of the Polish Catholic Church?

o What is characteristic of this particular discourse compared to other discourses of the Polish Catholic Church and other discourses about IVF?

• What are the main discourses of the Polish Catholich Church upon IVF?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

METHODS

• Main corpus:•documents from the official site of the Polish Bishops’ Conference;•all documents containing the expression in vitro;•24, 000 tokens;

• Reference corpora:•RC1: documents from the official site of Polish Bishops’ Conference;•RC2: text containing words in vitro (principle of type-accordance). Diverse sources: from statements of pro-IVF and pro-life organization to written inquires of parliament members.

DATA

EXPRESSIONS USED TO TALK ABOUT IVF:•Choice:

oTwo competent judges; •Expressions:

Semantic prosody: o„consistent aura of meaning” (Louw 1993)o10 strongest collocates in National Corpus of Polish;

Semantic preference: o „a particular lexical item frequently collocates with a

series of items which belong to a semantic set” (Salama, 2011)

o10 strongest collocates in National Corpus of Polish;

METHODS

•Expressions in text:o Analysis of concordances in search of regularities (Baker, 2006)

KEY WORDS:•„lexical items that show marked frequency in one text compared to another” (Scott 2006)

•3 strongest key words for every reference corpora;• Analysis of concordances in search of regularities (Baker, 2006);

METHODS

RESULTS

OVERVIEW

NAMING IVF

• 96 times in the analyzed texts;• great variety of expressions:o 18 different ways of designating IVF;

• majority: more than one word:o activity name (method, procedure, technique or practice);o describing word (artificial, extra-systemic or in vitro);o term fertilization.

• the creativity confirmed in National Corpus of Polish:o 5 of the expressions have frequencies higher than 50; o 7 of terms used in the texts to describe IVF do not occur in

NCP at all;

KEY WORDS:DISCOURSE OF EPISCOPATE ABOUT OTHER SUBJECTS

1) IN VITRO [IN VITRO]2) EMBRIONÓW [EMBRYO]3) KOMÓREK [CELL] (also

position 7 as KOMÓRKI)4) MACIERZYSTYCH [STEM]5) ZAPŁODNIENIA

[FERTLIZATION]6) PRAWA [RIGHT/LAW]7) CZŁOWIEKA [MAN]8) CELU [GOAL]9) METODY [METHOD]

Concentration on biological/ procedural aspects of IVF:

oEmbryo;oCell;oStem;oFertilization;oMethod;

KEY WORDS: OTHER DISCOURSES ABOUT IVF

1) ŻYCIA [LIFE] 2) RODZINY [FAMILY] (also

position 10 as RODZINIE)3) TRZEBA [IT MUST BE +

PART.]4) CZŁOWIEKA [HUMAN

BEING], (also position 7 as CZŁOWIEK)

5) BOGA [GOD], (also position 6 as BÓG)

6) MACIERZYSTYCH [STEAM], 7) MIŁOŚĆ [LOVE]

• Concentration on positive values:o Life, o Family, o Human beingo Love;

• Religious character of texts:o God;

DISCOURSES

1. Dehumanization of IVF.2. There is a dangerous situation; therefore, some

actions need to be undertaken.3. Those speaking in the discourse are concerned

with the moral aspects of the discussed issues.4. Humans are exceptional beings appointed with

special dignity.5. The claims made are lawful or should be made so.

MAIN DISCOURSES

names for IVF:• procedura [procedure] semantic preference for actions

consisting of some official and highly formalized steps;• sztuczny [artificial] semantic preference for inanimate

objects;• zapłodnienie [fertilization] – semantic preference for

biomedical notions; • rozród [propagation] - semantic preference for animals and

unhuman objects and two strongest collocates: gospodarski [farm (adj)] and hodowla [breeding]

• reprodukcja [reproduction]: polisemic, 10 strongest collocates are all related to copy of an art work, first one associated with human procreation: 26th position;

DEHUMANIZATION OF IVF

IVF in texts:• highly technical and medical procedure:

Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) jest jedną z form zapłodnienia in vitro, w której «zapłodnienie nie następuje samoistnie w probówce [Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (icsi)in one of the forms of in vitro fertilization, in which fertilization does not happen spontaneous in the laboratory tube]

• contrasting with conception resulting from sexual activity:

ta technika jest moralnie niegodziwą: «powoduje ona całkowite oddzielenie prokreacji od aktu małżeńskiego) [this technique is unethical as it causes total separation of procreation and matrimonial act]

DEHUMANIZATION OF IVF

key words:• RC1: in vitro [in vitro], embrionów [embryos],

komórek [cells], macierzystych [stem] and techniki [techniques];

• usage of professional medical vocabulary in discourses upon embryos and cells:

Transfer jądra, który polega na wprowadzeniu jądra pobranego z komórki embrionalnej lub somatycznej do owocytu pozbawionego wcześniej jądra [Nucleus transfer, which consists of inserting the nucleus taken from embryo or somatic cell to oocyte which previously had no nucleus]

DEHUMANIZATION OF IVF

There is a dangerous situation; therefore, some actions need to be undertaken.

IVF in texts:Dangerous consequences: illness of mother or child, killing human beings:

np. raka piersi u kobiet poddawanych zabiegom zapłodnienia pozaustrojowego [for example breast cancer by women undergoing in vitro procedures]

DANGEROUS SITUATION

key words:• life and family are constructed as endangered:

ataki na małżeństwo i rodzinę stają się z każdym dniem coraz silniejsze [attacks on family are getting stronger with every day]

• actions associated with states of jeopardy (protection of something or defending of something) must be undertaken

Trzeba jednoznacznie bronić życia ludzkiego [human life definitely needs to be protected]

DANGEROUS SITUATION

Those speaking in the discourse are concerned with the moral aspects of the discussed issues.

IVF in texts:• IVF as evoking moral protests:

rozwody, dlatego sprzeciw wobec invitro uzasadniamy również w oparciu o prawo naturalne [hence we justify the objection against IVF also on the basis of natural law]

• juxtaposing IVF with morally doubtful actions: rozwody, konkubinaty, aborcje, zapłodnienie invitro – pokazuje, jaki jest jego świat wartości [divorces, concubinage, abortion – it shows his word of values];

MORALITY

key words:• family has a clear-cut definition:

prawda o „instytucji” małżeństwa i rodziny jest „ponad wolą jednostek [the truth about the „institution ‘ of the marriage and family is above the will of the individuals]

• some things must be said due to moral obligation:Trzeba też jasno powiedzieć, że praktyczna dominacja „mieć” nad „być” zarówno wynika z braku wiary, jak i do braku wiary prowadzi. [It must be clearly stated, that practical domination of „to have” over „to be” is both result of a lack of faith and the reason for it]

MORALITY

key words:•convictions which are morally valued as positive must

be accepted whereas those with opposite valuation must be rejected:

Trzeba raz na zawsze odrzucić przekonanie, że (…). [The conviction that (…) must be once and for all rejected]

• the cells are morally valued due to their source:użyciu linii komórkowych niegodziwego pochodzenia [usage of cell lines of impious orgin];

MORALITY

Humans are exceptional beings appointed with special dignity

IVF in texts:• IVF has dangerous consequencec related to human dignity:

rozwody, dlatego sprzeciw wobec invitro uzasadniamy również w oparciu o prawo naturalne [hence we justify the objection against IVF also on the basis of natural law]

EXEPTIONAL HUMANS

key words:• categorization of embryos as human beings:

w pierwszym przypadku niszczymy ludzki embrion, aby pobrać komórki macierzyste, natomiast w drugim - wykorzystujemy organ [in the first case we destroy human embryo to extract steam cells, whereas in the second – we use an organ]

• human dignity needs to be protected: Trzeba ratować człowieka [The human must be saved]

EXEPTIONAL HUMANS

The claims made are lawful or should be made so. IVF in texts:

• IVF as subject of objection: it shuld be legally baned:wszyscy posłowie zatroskani o ochronę praw człowieka powinni podjąć działania zmierzające do całkowitego zakazu tej metody [all MP’s caring about protection of human rights should undertake action aiming at full prohibition of this method] key words:

• law as one of the keywords for RC1;• constitutional right to life mentioned in the context of the universality of the right to life:

należy się pełna ochrona prawna, zwłaszcza ochrona prawa do życia [they deserve full legal protection, especially the protection of their right to liife]

LAWFULNESS

INTERPRETATION

1. Dehumanization of IVF:• 79% of people agree that married couples should have

access to IVF (Roguska 2012);

• legitimizing the strong opposition of PCC against IVF;2. There is a dangerous situation; therefore, some actions

need to be undertaken:• the danger-discourse as playing important role in

legitimizing controversial actions (Rojo 1997 )

• legitimization of actions of PCC such as protest against IVF;

• position the Church as a protector in times of need and danger;

INTERPRETATION

3. Those speaking in the discourse are concerned with the moral aspects of the discussed issues:• Church as the “administrator of the values” (Graff,

2010; Zawadzka, 2010); • positioning the Church as caring for ethical

aspects of discussed issues; • positioning the Church as entitled to form

universal judgments with respect to morality;• legitimizing the participation of the Church in

the political debate;

INTERPRETATION

4. Humans are exceptional beings appointed with special dignity.• building a good image of the Church

5. The claims made are lawful or should be made so:• 62% of Polish citizens express the opinion that the

influence of the Church on life in Poland is considerable (Roguska 2012);

• the vast majority (86%) believes that this influence should be reduced (Roguska 2012);

• constructing the expressed opinions as based in Polish law influence the level of acceptance for these opinions;

• positioning the Church as a participant of discussion concerning legal regulations in Poland

INTERPRETATION

CONCLUSION

1. Dehumanization of IVF.2. There is a dangerous situation; therefore, some

actions need to be undertaken.3. Those speaking in the discourse are concerned

with the moral aspects of the discussed issues.4. Humans are exceptional beings appointed with

special dignity.5. The claims made are lawful or should be made so.

MAIN DISCOURSES

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