Displaying items by tag: Abortion

On 12^th September Dr Carol Portman, one of Queensland’s only later term abortion providers spoke at a Committee Hearing for the Termination of Pregnancy Bill.  When asked if she had ever experienced a woman attending for termination who may be experiencing her coercion, her response revealed all that typifies abortion discourse.  A discourse that upholds the concept of ‘abortion rights’ above all else, even a woman’s right to be free from coercion, to be entitled to the highest standards of ethical medical care and the right to say ‘no’.

The latest QLD abortion law reform effort was introduced on 22 August 2018, by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Yvette  D'Ath. This is the third such attempt to decriminalise abortion in the state in recent years. Organisations and individuals, including medical professionals, counsellors, and members of the public made submissions to a government-appointed committee, which will evaluate them and release a report on October 5th. The bill will then be debated in mid-October.

"Birth control: more children from the fit, less from the unfit.” “No woman or man shall have the right to become a parent without a permit for parenthood.”

These quotes are from Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), the founder of Planned Parenthood. They are given by Elasah Drogin in her book Margaret Sanger: Father of Modern Society, a work which outlines the life and activity of the woman who founded Planned Parenthood, the organisation which has killed millions of pre-born babies. Unpleasant facts about the life and opinions of Margaret Sanger are ignored by her modern admirers, but they need to be seen if we are to fully understand the background of the current advocacy of abortion and of other evils.

Almost 10 years ago, Victoria became the first Australian state to decriminalise abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. Tasmania followed in 2013. Now Queensland abortion activists are trying a second time to decriminalise abortion to full term in that state. This article looks at some of the inhumane aspects of these barbaric procedures. [A note on the use of the phrase 'late-term' abortion: there is some division over the use of this name to describe the deliberate termination of pregnancy past the first trimester. Some, including abortion providers, do not believe it to be medically accurate. But because the name is widely-accepted, I have stuck with it for this article, which focuses on deliberate abortions performed after 20 weeks' gestation.]  

Debbie Garratt has had many years of involvement in counselling women and has observed, first-hand, similarities in the grief experienced by both post-abortive women and women who lost their children to adoption. This article is intended to urge pro-lifers to consider the impact of adoption on biological parents and their children. It is not meant to judge or shame those couples who have adopted and often made great sacrifices to do so, but should serve to draw attention to the deep loss experienced by adopted children.

Philip Ney MD FRCP(C) MA RPsych is an academic and clinician of over fifty years, has done research into child abuse for more than forty years and has published many papers and books on this subject. In his early research, he became increasingly aware of the connection between child abuse and abortion. Dr. Ney and his wife have also studied children who are survivors of abortion. From their experience conducting therapeutic groups for women and men suffering from the effects of child abuse and/or abortion, Philip Ney wrote "Ending the Cycle of Abuse" (Taylor Frances, New York) and "Deeply Damaged" (Pioneer Publishing, Victoria, BC). The extract below is taken from the 1997 book, 'Deeply Damaged." [Bio: the Hope Alive Australia website.]

This is the second part of a briefing paper prepared by Debbie Garratt of Real Choices Australia. The first part critiques a recently-released draft White Paper from Marie Stopes Australia, which deals with the topic of Reproductive Coercion. Click here to read part 1. The majority (>95%) of terminations in Australia occur for psychosocial reasons including not having enough resources, whether financial or material, not feeling able to cope with a baby due to age or lack of support, fears about the impact of pregnancy and parenting on other life choices, as well as consideration for the needs of other people a woman cares for.

Queensland has moved a step closer to decriminalising abortion with Labor's outrageous bill set to be put forward in August. The bill will draw heavily on Law reform Commission recommendations, and take extreme abortion laws existing in other states even further. While mainstream media emphasises that abortion would be made legal up to 22 weeks, there is less emphasis on proposals for babies over 22 weeks' gestation. That may be due to the public's distaste for late-term abortion: Premier Palaszczuk wants to allow abortions to full term, with merely a sign-off by a second doctor required.

This is the first part of a briefing paper by Debbie Garratt, of Real Choices Australia, on the topic of reproductive coercion. This article critiques a draft White Paper by Marie Stopes on reproductive coercion, while the second article examines the society's many subtle and coercive influences on pregnant women. Click here to read part 2.   Marie Stopes, one of Australia’s biggest abortion providers recently released a draft White Paper entitled Hidden Forces: Shining a Light on Reproductive Coercion.

John Young has summarised the submission made by my legal team to the High Court of Australia, which we propose will show that abortion-facility exclusion zones are unconstitutional. The entire document is 24 pages long and can be read here on the High Court website, along with submissions from the Attorneys-General of the states and territories, and the Commonwealth Attorney-General - all of whom oppose us. American readers may be interested to note that SCOTUS and the Massachusetts bubble-zone case are mentioned in our submission on page 12. Careful readers will see that, on the day of my arrest, twenty police officers were briefed regarding my life advocacy within the exclusion zone. Twenty.