Deputy from “European Solidarity” calls women who defend their right to abortion underdeveloped.” The party responded

The Deputy of the Poltava City Council from the European Solidarity party, the rector of St. Nicholas Church Oleksandr Dediukhin called the women who defend the right to abortion, "underdeveloped persons."

This is stated in his post on Facebook.

"When underdeveloped individuals go with banners like 'My body is my business,' as a person who respects the freedom of others, I can basically agree with that. To the extent that it doesn't restrict the freedom of others. […] Well, not to create a shitstorm on the same topic twice: a child in the womb is not a part of a woman's body and not a part of a man's body at all. It's an individual. And its body is no longer the work of those who conceived it," Dediukhin wrote.

Later, the deputy published another post, responding to criticism of the previous one. According to him, people do it because of their "complexes."

"It's just that if you lower the membranes between the gyruses for a moment, you can find out that the embryo enters the uterus as a result of certain actions committed by the woman herself. And if you've already agreed to one thing, then please be responsible," Dediukhin said.

He added that "the husband's responsibility is much greater as we have a patriarchate."

"A woman is always to blame. It's the philosophy of many. In different parties, there are such men. Unfortunately, in the European Solidarity party as well […]. The statistics are ruthless: Ukrainian men spend an average of 10 minutes a day raising children. Don't the holy fathers want to write a post about this? Equality, partnership, mutual respect in the family: only this creates a healthy society and is a recipe for a happy family where children feel good," the people's deputy said.

The Poltava branch of the party stated that it was a "post on a personal page," meaning, it's not the position of the political force, but "deputies should not write such posts."

The European Solidarity party condemned Dediukhin's sexist statements and said that his opinion was wrong and that his position had nothing to do with the party's official position.

"The party believes that Oleksandr Dediukhin's statements discredit European Solidarity, and his words will be considered at the next meeting of the Council of the party's Poltava territorial organization," the political force said.

Oleksandr Dediukhin is the archpriest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the abbot of St. Nicholas Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Poltava. In 2019, together with then-President Petro Poroshenko, he met with the head of the Constantinople Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew. In the local elections in 2020, Dediukhin became a deputy of the Poltava City Council from the European Solidarity party.