Polish windsurfing star: I convinced a woman not to have an abortion

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A Polish windsurfing star has described how she convinced a woman not to have an abortion, saying that “if we talk about it out loud, others will also follow our example.”

Zofia Klepacka, a world champion and Olympic medalist in her sport, told Radio Warszawa on March 16 that a woman who was in a “bad situation” and considering an abortion wrote to her.

“I am happy because with my testimony I convinced this woman not to abort her child,” he said.

“I think that if we talk about it out loud, others will also follow our example.”

The 34-year-old won the Windsurfing World Championships in 2007 and has participated in three Olympics, earning a bronze medal at the 2012 Games in London in the RS:X class.

Earlier this month, Klepacka also took bronze at the 2021 RS:X European Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal. She donated the medal for auction, raising 10,000 Polish złotys (around $2,500) to cover the healthcare costs of a Polish woman living in Lviv, Ukraine.

Olympic windsurfing medalist Zofia Klepacka / Facebook

In her interview with the diocesan broadcasting station, the mother of two also spoke about the importance of motherhood and how she combined parenthood and professional sport.

Klepacka is an outspoken pro-lifer who says that her values are summed up in the motto of the Polish Army, “Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna” (“God, Honor, Fatherland”).

She publicly opposed protesters who targeted churches and monuments following a landmark abortion ruling in Poland last October.

The country’s constitutional court ruled Oct. 22 that a 1993 law permitting abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional.

The ruling, which cannot be appealed, could lead to a significant reduction in the number of abortions in the country.

The court’s decision triggered mass protests during which demonstrators disrupted Masses while holding signs supporting abortion, left graffiti on Church property, vandalized statues of the Polish pope St. John Paul II, and chanted slogans at clergy.

Klepacka said: “We can see the direction in which today’s world is heading. In some countries, euthanasia and abortion are commonplace.”

“I hope that Poland will be an example for Europe and a bulwark of Christianity, a bastion of normality and normal values.”

“Hence my defense of the churches that were attacked, of monuments commemorating our national heroes who shed their blood for our living in a free, democratic, sovereign state.”