| Article Index |
|---|
| Overview |
| Overcoming |
| Recent Change in Legislation |
| A Change in Strategy |
| All Pages |
Recent Change in Legislation:
On 10 October 2008 the Victorian Government decriminalised abortion up to 24 weeks gestation.
However, because of a loophole, in practice it is available on demand right up to birth.
The implications of this legislation are horrendous. Not only does it, in effect, allow the killing of babies right up to birth, but it also takes away the right of conscientious objection from doctors, and all other involved medical personnel. Should an objecting doctor be asked by a mother to abort her child, he must, according to this law, refer her to another doctor who he knows has no such objection.
Furthermore, according to this legislation, should he be faced with a pregnancy, the continuation of which would be a threat to the mother’s life (in fact this is a clinical fiction), he must perform the abortion himself.
To our knowledge, there is no other country in the Western World that has such a law!
There are other follow-on effects that would have the potential of changing the way that medicine is practiced in our society.
Following the recent state election in Queensland, and the Labour Party being returned with a very high number of Emily’s List members, including the Premier, a similar Bill is expected before that Parliament in the near future. New South Wales and the other states and territories will, in all probability, follow suit.
