Polish President Andrzej Duda has proposed a constitutional ban on LGBT+ couple’s ability to adopt children.

Keeping to his re-election campaign’s theme of “protecting” traditional values, his attack on the LGBT+ community continues less than a week before voting commences.

In what could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to win votes as opinion polls show it is too close to call, Duda’s proposal is mostly symbolic.

The Polish president’s efforts mirror an anti LGBT+ stunt by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin who successfully introduced a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage before what was ultimately his re-election.

Currently, adoption by same-sex couples in Poland is practically impossible since Article 18 of the Polish constitution defines marriage as a “union of a man and a woman” and married couples are given preference over single adults in adoption cases.

This coupled with the bias faced by same-sex couples by publicly funded adoption agencies means that while not illegal, it is highly rare.

“Children must be safe and protected from adoption by same-sex couples,” Duda said. “My proposal is for adoption to be possible only for married couples, not for those in a same-sex partnership.”

In early June, Duda was met with widespread criticism following his pledge to further undermine LGBT+ rights as part of his reelection campaign.

In a ‘family charter’ published recently, the presidential candidate has sworn to take action on prohibiting “the propagation of this ideology” in public institutions, enshrine marriage in the constitution as solely between a woman and man, and strip same-sex couples of adoption rights.

Speaking at the rally in Bzerg, Duda stated, “We won’t allow [Poland] to be taken away from us. We won’t let any ideology, neither communist, nor socialist, nor any other take it away from us, because this is our identity. And let no one try to lead our children on the wrong path because we won’t allow it.”

In ILGA’s 2020 Rainbow Europe report, Poland ranked 42nd among 49 European countries in their review of the human rights situation for LGBT+ people.

The European Union warned Poland that it may cut its pandemic relief funding due to the anti-LGBT+ discrimination currently playing out in the country.