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.
Comments
The problem with the answers in the survey above is that the Parties only tell the people what they think they want to hear!
For instance, Labor's PLATFORM supports abortion on demand.
See (Platform – Chapter 6, No 44 - http://www.alp.org.au/australian-labor/our-platform/ )
That was introduced as a policy in 1984 – at the same time they also added the ability to have a conscience vote to appease the pro-life people in the party!
But they don’t mention that!
Even though the question asks about Medicare funding, they don't say what they will do about it – but they certainly don't have any plans to alter it!
We also have to look at the record of the parties on abortion related issues - at the federal level, 82% of Labor MPs voted FOR the abortion drug RU 486 in 2006.
On the conservative side only 43% of the Liberals and 19% of Nationals voted for it.
Source: See NO 16 from 2007 Christian Values Checklist. http://www.saltshakers.org.au/images/stories/attachments/236_435378_ISSUES_-_POLITICS_-_FEDE.pdf
In Victoria, it was Labor that introduced the awful Abortion Law Reform Bill.
As for the Greens - well, they totally support abortion as well. They just didn’t answer that Question in the survey – presumably because they thought Christians wouldn’t like the answer!
For more info on the abortion issue and this election, see Salt Shakers report “Party positions and appealing for votes” at http://www.saltshakers.org.au/ posted on Mon 16 August. We discuss EMILY’s List and the Labor women who are members – Julia Gillard was a founder!
Also check out the Christian Values Checklist for a comparison of party policies on a range of moral issues at http://www.christianvalues.org.au/check_list.html
interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks!