In response to the Coalition government's parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne's call for terminations of pregnancies over 21 weeks to be banned, and severely limited for pregnancies over 12 weeks, the Socialist Alliance has repeated its call for abortion to be removed from all state laws.
Pyne said that abortions should be something "women choose not to have, and can't have too late". His opinion is being publicly supported by health minister Tony Abbott and deputy prime minister John Anderson.
Under the guise of opening a discussion, these politicians are trying to turn the clock back on women's basic human right to decide what happens to their bodies. If they succeed, history shows what will happen — deaths and permanent injuries caused by botched "backyard" abortions, and more poverty, mental illness, suffering and suicides among women.
Women always have and always will — for a whole variety of reasons — choose to terminate pregnancies. To remove or limit this choice is utterly incompatible with the humanitarian values supposedly upheld in a modern "democracy" like Australia.
It is also incompatible with public opinion. A recent survey by the Australian National University on the social attitudes of a representative sample of 4000 Australians found that more than 80% agree with women's right to choose. The survey also found that more than 70% of Catholics and an even larger proportion of people who identify as members of other major religions support women's rights in this area.
If the anti-choice politicians really gave a damn about women's health, they would actively oppose the government's cuts to women's services, child care and Medicare, and the constant erosion of job security — all factors that weigh in women's decisions about whether to proceed with a pregnancy.
The Socialist Alliance applauds federal Labor leader Mark Latham's statement that the choice about whether to terminate a pregnancy is up to the woman and her doctor. We urge all state and federal Labor Party MPs to campaign vigorously against the Coalition politicians' reactionary agenda, and to support the pro-choice movement's calls for full Medicare coverage for terminations and the repeal of all laws that codify abortion access.
As long as this simple medical procedure remains in the states' crimes and health acts, and so long as both major parties allow a "conscience vote" on this issue rather than binding their MPs to respect and reflect overwhelming public opinion, women are vulnerable to the whims of politicians who believe they have some god-given right to decide what anyone should do with their body.
Lisa Macdonald
[Lisa Macdonald is a national co-convenor of the Socialist Alliance.]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, November 24, 2004.
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