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Melissa Ohden is the voice of those whose lives are cut short.

In 1977, Melissa Ohden's mother underwent an abortion attempt during her fifth month of pregnancy.  Mercifully, the abortion failed, and Melissa was born alive.  After being adopted, she found out (during her teen years) the story of her birth and experienced first hand the incredible emotional pain that abortion can inflict.  Now, after years of personal grief and questioning, she is telling the world her story - a story of survival, triumph and hope.

Come and hear Melissa speak in a city near you! More details to come (venues, times etc)...
 
Sat, Sept 4 - Melbourne - Australian Family Association
Sun, Sept 5 (evening) - Sydenham Baptist Church
Mon, Sept 6 - Deniliquin, NSW - Life Network Australia
Tues, Sept 7 & Wed Sept 8 - Mildura, Vic – Zoe Pregnancy Support
Fri, Sept 10 - Clare SA - Save the Unborn
Sat, Sept 11 am - Kadina SA – Save the Unborn
Sat, Sept 11 pm - Adelaide - Genesis Pregnancy Support
Mon, Sept 13, Tues Sept 14 - Toowoomba, Qld - Emily's Voice
Fri, Sept 17 - Canberra – Real Choices Australia and Womens Forum Australia
Sat, Sept 18 - Sydney - NSW Right to Life
Mon, Sept 20 - Albury, NSW - Real Choices Australia
Tue, Sept 21 - Melbourne - Australian Family Association
Wed, Sept 22 - Melbourne - March for the Babies
 
Find comfort in her journey of healing and be inspired to take a stand against the greatest violence against women, babies and families in our society today -  events not to be missed!

If you are concerned about the number of abortions in Australia and the damage that abortion does to women and families, we suggest make yourself heard on August 21st.

The Australian Christian Lobby have asked all of the political parties about their policies on a number of issues, including two questions about abortion. The responses can be seen on their Australia Votes website. The responses to one question are reproduced below.

In order to make your vote count, it pays to be informed about the Australian voting system and the distribution of preferences. Christian group, OneVote and Family First have released short videos to help explain what happens to your vote.

Question: The 2007 annual report of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (Victoria) showed that 52 out of 181 late term babies who were aborted for “abnormalities” survived late term abortions but died neo-natally. Would your Party support a conscience vote on Medicare funding for abortions carried out on babies old enough to be viable outside the womb?

Answers:
Liberal National Coalition
The Coalition has no plans to change current arrangements in relation to abortion. In government, the Coalition established a nationwide Pregnancy Counselling Helpline to provide counselling and referral services to women and their partners who wished to explore their options in the face of unintended pregnancy.

Family First
Yes – Family First has raised numerous concerns in Parliaments around Australia regarding late term abortions. Family First would support a conscience vote to ban the Medicare funding of abortion carried out on babies old enough to be viable outside the womb.

Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party
One third of Australian conceptions are aborted. This affects all families in our country. All women have the right to access the best medical care if they choose abortion.

Christian Democratic Party
We allow a conscience vote on all issues so a resounding YES. Our policy position is to support the rights of the unborn child as we see the unborn child as a person. In fact the UN Charter on human rights gives the same legal rights to the unborn child as to the born child and we hold to this position. Our policies do not support abortions and we did call on the federal government to seek to overturn Victoria's position as we are a signatory to the UN Charter on rights of the child where the same rights are granted to both the born and the unborn child.

Climate Sceptics
Yes.

Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting)
Our party would support a conscience vote on Medicare funding for abortions carried out on babies old enough to be viable outside the womb.

Australian Sex Party
With regard to abortion our party supports ‘conscience’ votes on all issues and especially with abortion. We support a women’s right to control her own fertility and to terminate a pregnancy up until the developing foetus becomes an individual person in its own right, with an individual consciousness. We support Medicare funding for all terminations where a qualified doctor is involved. Pro abortion. Supports women’s rights to have an abortion if they so choose. Calls for uniform state abortion laws and amendments to the Therapeutic Goods Act to allow milepristone (RU486) to be imported and distributed widely in place of the highly restrictive and cumbersome Authorised Prescriber process which resulted from the “Harradine Amendments” to the Therapeutic Goods Amendment Bill 1996.

Democratic Labor Party of Australia
The question probably should be: would we support any attempt to remove medicare funding for abortions on babies considered to be of a viable gestational age. The answer is a firm yes. However, we also want it known that we oppose every single abortion for any reason at any and all gestational ages.

Australian Labor Party
Regulation of late-term abortion is a matter for States and Territories. The Australian Labor Party supports conscience votes on issues before the federal parliament which relate to abortion.

Australian Greens
THE GREENS DECLINED TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.

Note: Life Network Australia is not affiliated with any political party. The responses above are in random order.

 The Sunday Times' (Perth) reported today that a record number of young girls in Western Australia are having abortions.
 
According to article, 44 girls aged 14 years or younger terminated a pregnancy last year. This figure is more than double the number six years ago, when 20 girls had abortions.  Abortion Grief Australia state director Julie Cook said that some of the girls were as young as 12.

Edith Cowan University psychology lecturer Bronwyn Harman, researcher of teenage motherhood, said that in a lot of cases young girls dating older boys or men were pressured into sex.

"Girls are being pressured to adopt adult behaviour at an earlier age than previous generations and that that pressure can come from boys their own age or, in a lot of cases, from older men who are predators and bullying them into sex" Dr Harman said.

"It can also come from the premature sexualisation of girls in the media and marketing gone mad", acccording to Dr Harman.

Ms Cook added that girls who had abortions were 3.6 times more likely to abuse hard drugs and twice as likely to be binge drinkers later in life.

"Thirty nine per cent of women who had an abortion had another later in life" said Ms Cook in the interview.

The article goes on to say that opposition child protection spokeswoman Sue Ellery called on the Government to reveal its plans for improving sex education.

"This Government is big on talk but slow to act - We need to invest in better and more effective education for young children about sexual relationships. We need to be a lot more pro-active in making sure that all young people know about contraception" Ms Ellery said.

Deb Garratt, CEO of Real Choices Australia, said that an investigation should be required into whether these abortion providers followed regulatory mandatory reporting guidelines for the protection of these girls.

"How many of these abortions are undertaken to protect perpetrators?  How much choice did these young girls really have in deciding to have sex, or in deciding to have a termination?  It is interesting that Sue Ellery, in response to this story, is concerned about young people knowing more about contraception.  In cases of child abuse, which is all it can be called when 12 year olds are getting pregnant, surely contraception only serves to better hide the crime" Ms Garratt said.

"Young people have the right to an education that teaches them how to advocate for themselves in situations of such coercion.  Not the same old 'safe sex' message and handing out of condoms that simply makes them feel that they are the ones abnormal if they aren't 'doing it'. The fact is, most of them are not having sex.. and we do little to resource and support them to make healthy lifestyle choices" Ms Garratt concluded.