POLAND ABORTIONS |
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PRODUCER |
MICHELLE RIMMER |
SYNOPSIS: |
Women’s bodies are the battleground in one of the largest culture wars in Poland’s recent history. Michelle Rimmer explores the impact of a near-total ban on abortion, as a staunchly Catholic society comes head-to-head with a new generation of women’s rights activists. |
TITLE |
Poland’s Abortion Battle |
TALENT: |
Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist Kat Kulerska, Pro-Choice Activist Sławomir Łukasiuk, Samuel’s
Father |
GFX |
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PRODUCTION NOTES: |
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VISION |
SCRIPT |
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210613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: On the streets of Poland…
A march for Freedom
Hands off our children
POLISH
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210613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1
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VO: But at this far-right rally…calls for an end to coronavirus restrictions...morph into anti-semetic chants... |
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210613 Krakow March D03 Card 1-1 |
POLISH |
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10613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: Polin is the hebrew word for Poland...and the name of the Jewish history museum in Warsaw.
MINISCULE GAP HERE
Alongside these racial slogans….are anti-LGBT banners. |
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10613 Krakow March D03 Card 1-1 |
ENGLISH |
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10613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: There’s a growing divide between the country’s conservative catholic core and those pushing for a progressive Poland
And in this culture war….women’s bodies have become a battleground. |
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Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist Anna giving speech to crowd of protesters
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POLISH |
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Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist |
ENGLISH |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 2-2 |
POLISH |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 2-2 12:43 Woman in yellow top yelling at Anna -- Anna talking over her |
POLISH |
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Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist |
ENGLISH |
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210613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: At the start of this year...Poland’s near total ban on
abortion was made even more restrictive. The law now forbids women from terminating pregnancies even in cases of severe fetal defects
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Graphic picket banner being erected at picket |
VO: But for so-called ‘Pro-life’ activists like Anna…the ban doesn’t go far enough. |
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Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist |
ENGLISH
[25:50] We just want to ban abortion completely. ANNA IV: [26:16]
Right now in Poland, legally are killed babies that are conceived for
instance, in rape or incest. Okay. Or when the mother's health or life is in
danger. |
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VO: Before the law change - 98% of legal terminations in Poland were in cases of fetal defects. |
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Anna Trutowska, Anti-Abortion Activist 210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 2-2
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ENGLISH |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 2-2 |
VO: Poland’s abortion laws are among the strictest in
Europe
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy
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ENGLISH [01:31:10]
After my birthday, It was like, 3rd of March and I should get my period this
day. It was never late. |
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CAT ACTUALITY HERE |
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CATS AND HOME LIFE HERE
210613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: Klaudia is 26 years old and fell pregnant just one month after the abortion laws in Poland were tightened.
She was in a relationship but wasn’t ready to have a child.
Klaudia visited a
website based in the Netherlands and purchased pills that would end her
pregnancy. |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy |
[01:52:48] I didn't want a baby. I still don't want.
ENGLISH |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy |
ENGLISH |
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210613 Krakow
March D03 Card 1-1 |
VO: Klaudia visited a doctor to check if her abortion attempt was succesful and was refered to a nearby hospital.
She recorded her consultation with the doctor. |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy |
ENGLISH KLAUDIA:
[02:23:10]
I said, ‘yes, because I wanted to stop it.’ ‘You didn't want to be pregnant?
And I said, ‘yes, these are the pills to stop the pregnancy’. And she said,
‘this is a police case. I'm calling, I'm calling for another doctor.’
[02:23:24] |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy |
ENGLISH [01:48:05] |
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Klaudia shopping
in the market |
VO: Klaudia shared the recording online anonymously...and within a week it amassed 20-thousand views. |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy |
ENGLISH |
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210612 Krakow Wrocrlaw D02 Card 1-2 |
POLISH MONIKA and KAT: Hi, we got you coffee KLAUDIA: Oh great, thanks very much! [04:30 |
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210612 Krakow
Wrocrlaw D02 Card 1-2 |
VO: Klaudia’s experience forced her to pick a side and, like many Poles, she is now fighting for what she sees as a basic human right. |
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Klaudia Kuzdub, Recently Aborted Pregnancy
Kat Kulerska, Pro-Choice Activist |
POLISH |
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210612 Krakow
Wrocrlaw D02 Card 1-2 - Breakfast arriving - sipping coffee + eating while listening etc. |
POLISH 00:35:19 KLAUDIA: Exactly! |
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210612 Krakow
Wrocrlaw D02 Card 1-2 |
KAT: [00:18:15] There will be, again, thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions on the streets, and let’s prepare for this. [01:18:21] |
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210616 Warsaw
MP GV D06 Card 1-1 |
VO: Bartlomiej
Wroblewski is a member of the ruling |
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Bartlomiej Wroblewski, Law and Justice Party MP |
ENGLISH |
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210616 Warsaw MP GV D06 Card 1-1 |
MICHELLE: [19:15] Why was it important to you that fetal abnormalities were no longer an exception? [19:21] |
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Bartlomiej Wroblewski, Law and Justice Party MP |
ENGLISH |
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MICHELLE: [02:24] This legislation doesn’t stop abortions, it just makes them more expensive and dangerous for women. What is the purpose of such a law when you know this is the case? [02:35] |
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Bartlomiej Wroblewski, Law and Justice Party MP |
ENGLISH |
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VO: Around 33 percent of
Poles support the Law and Justice Party. But when the stricter
abortion law was anounced in October 2020, surveys showed that around 59
percent of Poles were opposed to the change. In response, thousands of people took to the streets. |
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POLISH - ARCHIVE PROTEST UPSOTS |
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ARCHIVE OF PHONE NUMBERS |
VO: The phone numbers of abortion support services were spray-painted on buildings and churches throughout the country...including ‘The Abortion Dream Team’s’. |
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210618 Warsaw
Dream Team D08 Card 1-1 |
ENGLISH |
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210618 Warsaw Dream Team D08 Card 1-1
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POLISH KAROLINA: [01:16:46] Hi
[02:16:56] Do you know maybe what week of pregnancy it is? Or maybe at least –
[02:17:18] OK, so you did a test and – good – the test – probably at the most the 7th or 8th week, so it’s possible to basically quite quickly, non-problematically and independently do an abortion for yourself at home with tablets [02:17:38] |
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Pro-Abortion posters and books etc. in house |
VO: The Abortion Dream Team offers support for Polish women seeking abortion by pill or plane.
Medication that terminates early stage pregnancies can be posted from abroad, or women can travel to nearby countries for surgical procedures. |
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210618 Warsaw Dream Team D08 Card 1-1 |
KAROLINA:
[01:40:56] So I get this message this morning: [01:46:00] I know where it comes from - I’m just like, ‘you know, don’t worry, I’m not judging you and you’re not doing anything wrong. And I’m not thinking any bad things about you - and actually I’m thinking good things about you because you were smart enough and you took enough care of yourself to come to us. [01:46:15] |
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VO: Karolina is a lawyer by trade – and has to be very careful with her words and actions. |
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210618 Warsaw Dream Team D08 Card 1-1
Karolina at
computer checking and replying to facebook messages |
ENGLISH
KAROLINA:
[44:49] That's a huge part of my work, actually,
[48:40] If you give me information about that, if you give me information about where to get pills, it's all fine. [48:45]
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210714 Amsterdam Card 1-1 [01:05:44] Women on Waves button in lift |
VO: Women on Waves is an organisation in The Netherlands that provides safe abortion services to Polish women. |
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210714
Amsterdam Card 1-1 |
VO: The NGO was founded by doctor Rebecca Gomperts 20 years ago. |
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Rebecca Gomperts, Women on Waves
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Rebecca: [02:51]
Abortion was legal in Poland until 1993 and then the communist regime was
overthrown by the catholic church, and as a thank you to the Pope at the
time, abortion and sterilsation was banned. [03:04] |
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Rebecca Gomperts, Women on Waves 210714
Amsterdam Card 1-1 |
Rebecca: [39:59] This is the abortion pill and this is the second tablets that is the misopristol that women use after 24-hours after taking this one. |
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Rebecca Gomperts, Women on Waves
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Rebecca: [03:33] The women that are travelling to the Netherlands are mostly women that are pregnant longer, because women that are pregnant up to 10, 11, 12 weeks they can still use the medicines that is sent by mail to them. [03:42]
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Rebecca Gomperts, Women on Waves |
Rebecca: [19:58] When a woman comes here we talk with her, it’s 15 minutes, there’s no judgement, they’re treated as they’re normal human beings and they can go home. In most of the abortion clinics it takes half a day. [20:13] |
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210613 Krakow March D03 Card 1-1 |
CHURCH MASS SONG UPSOT |
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Church service - people in pews |
VO: 87% of Poland’s population identifies as
Roman-Catholic. |
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Cut from church
to cross hanging in Magnalena’s house. |
VO: BACK IN KRAKOW It’s Magdalena’s job to ensure Poland’s traditional religious values live on in the next generation of Polish children. |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 |
POLISH |
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Magdalena Guziak-Nowak, Anti-Abortion Activist |
VO: Magdalena is the Director
of education for the Polish Association of Defenders of Human Life. |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 |
POLISH [26:13] DAD: We couldn’t give a prize to all of them [26:15] DAUGHTER: But why? |
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210614 Krakow Pro Life D04 Card 1-2
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MAGDALENA: [01:47:19] OK. Here we can see some works done
by children and teens for the Pro-life, life- affirming competitions |
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POLISH |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 |
POLISH |
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Magdalena showing pro-life colouring entry that was made of their logo (a baby in the womb) |
ENGLISH |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 |
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210614 Krakow
Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 [06:23] daughter helping the baby eat strawberries. |
POLISH |
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210614 Krakow Pro Life D04 Card 1-2 |
POLISH MAGDALENA: [52:09] I would say; You are not alone. And that no one will ever love you so much as this child. [52:14] |
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VO: But what if you’re told your child won’t survive the
pregnancy?
Under the new law women in Poland must go through with these pregnancies to full term.
They don’t get to experience Magdalena’s dream of a happy
family. |
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Michelle arriving and getting out of car |
VO: I’m in Lublin - one of the most conservative parts of the country to visit a hospice for sick children run by franciscan monk Father Filip. |
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MICHELLE GREETING FATHER FILIP |
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Father Filip taking Michelle into the children’s ward |
FATHER FILIP [02:02:53] We are entering the inpatient ward. |
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VO: The children at this hospice have been born with congenital defects - Some are still in contact with their parents… others have been abandoned. |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 |
POLISH |
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Father Filip + Michell looking over Filip’s bed |
FILIP SNORING
UPSOT: |
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MICHELLE: [02:18:35] Do you understand why some parents might choose to end
a pregnancy rather than go through what the parents that you meet everyday
have gone through?
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Father Filip soothing Filipek |
POLISH |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 Parents Kat and Slaw talking to
doctor + interacting with child in hospice |
VO: Slaw and Kat are parents Father Filip has helped at the hospice.
They’ve celebrated the birthday of their son Samuel for the last five years...even though he died the day he was born. |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 |
KAT: [03:57] It was about 3 months before the first ultrasound, when we found out that the child has an abdominal wall defect [00:04:08] |
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210617 Lublin GV D07 Card 1-1 |
KAT: [10:06] When we went to the specialist in Warsaw, it turned out that
apart from the abdominal wall disease, the child also had a heart defect,
[10:18]. [10:52]
SLAW – heart [10:53] KAT – that we can operate on his heart, the child will have everything defective. This is a defect which inevitably leads to death. [00:11:00] If it does not die before birth, then it’s certain that life will last a short time.’ [11:06] |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 |
POLISH |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 |
POLISH KAT: [28:06]
they hugged him to me and I felt a cold little hand on my face - you couldn’t
hear cries of the baby because he was too weak to cry [00:28:20], you could
hear these delicate whimpers – I thought he had his eyes open for a moment- SLAW:
[28:26] yes KAT: and we were happy that we had a whole half hour because we were prepared for it to be two minutes |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1 |
POLISH SLAW: [43:33] The emotions are still here; the fact that we worked through it, and grieved, you can see it on us, that we still live through it, it is still in us [43:42] |
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210617 Lublin GV D07 Card 1-1 |
[02:58:34] MICHELLE: Do you think that parents should be forced by law to go through what you both experienced? |
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210617 Lublin
GV D07 Card 1-1
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POLISH |
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AD BREAK |
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210615 Dr Maciej D05 Card 1-1 |
VO: This is Dr Maciej Jędrzejko…[YEN-JAY-KO] ...a
gynecologist AND OBSTETRICIAN IN POLAND
POLISH DR MACIEJ: [01:17:12] Please come in DR MACIEJ: Any abdominal pains? Cramps? DR MACIEJ: [01:17:39] Yes, I have cramps
For 20 years he has performed abortions for women who chose to terminate their pregnancies in cases of fetal abnormalities.
Something he would now be jailed for.
He’s one of the few doctors willing to speak about the change in law. |
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210615 Dr Maciej D05 Card 1-1 |
ENGLISH |
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210615 Dr Maciej D05 Card 1-1 |
POLISH DR MACIEJ: [1:21:06] So good, please uncover your belly, straighten your legs. |
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Dr. Maciej Jedrzejko, Gynecologist |
ENGLISH |
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210615 Dr Maciej D05 Card 1-1 |
DR MACIEJ: [1:25:36] Now we see the baby in 3D, this is the head of the baby, hand.
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MACIEJ: [35:36] For the last 20 years I was helping people, and now, I feel like a criminal. |
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DOCTOR: We can see any abnormalities very clearly, so we can decide if the baby is healthy or not. [in English]
But this baby
is perfectly normal and healthy. WOMAN:
[1:28:02 ] May I have a photo? DOCTOR: [1:28:12] you’d like a photo? WOMAN: he’s
posing so nicely |
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Dr. Maciej Jedrzejko, Gynecologist |
ENGLISH |
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WARSAW public GVs |
VO: Tighter abortion
laws are part of a wider shift in Poland.
...and the freedoms people once enjoyed are eroding rapidly.
A doctor by day….at night Maciej is speaking out against
the changes in Poland… |
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210612 Krakow Wrocrlaw D02 Card 2-2
Band performing
song
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POLISH |
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Dr. Maciej Jedrzejko, Gynecologist |
ENGLISH |
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Maciej and his band on stage |
POLISH |
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Dr. Maciej Jedrzejko, Gynecologist |
ENGLISH
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