There have been many angles presented by the media in an attempt for us to analyse the tragedy of the murder of two day old baby Tegan. Her mother, Keli Lane has been found guilty of Tegan's murder, though her tiny body has never been found.
There are some disturbing elements in this case that highlights flaws in our legal and medical systems...and we need to be asking how the "reproductive rights" of one woman outweigh those of baby Tegan, the two babies she aborted, two she gave up for adoption and the men and families whose lives she has all but destroyed.
How can we as a society condone the handing out of multiple abortions and have no accountability for the lives being destroyed? How can an abortion provider not be legally required to screen for mental health problems? It is arguable that the life of baby Tegan and those aborted, who remain nameless and valueless by our society, may have been saved had the appropriate medical and psychological care been provided to Ms Lane.
The outgoing ALP Victorian government should feel concerned about this situation, as in 2010 they voted down ammendments to provide independent counselling for women considering abortion and warning of the health risks of abortion. Another blaringly obvious issue in this case is the hypocrisy of the Victorian abortion legislation that would have allowed Ms Lane to kill Tegan just three days earlier, for "any current or future physical or psychological reasons."
Peter Davidson's comment published by The Australian says it all: "Presumably, if she had simply had an abortion days, weeks or months earlier (as she in fact did with other pregnancies), there would have been no problem, yet the same child would have been deprived of her future. So her crime was not really one of killing, merely of timing. Legislation passed recently in Victoria allows the killing of an unborn child up to the moment of birth for any reason, and even an amendment to protect the life of a baby born alive following late-term abortion was voted down. Have we gone completely mad?" Then there is the question of whether a womans "reproductive rights" should overshadow the rights of the father.
A new government under the leadership of Ted Bailleu presents a wonderful opportunity to repeal the unacceptable abortion legsilation in Victoria and put measures in place to prevent situations like this.
One of the men with whom Ms Lane had a child had no idea she had even been pregnant, let alone given up their child for adoption. The Australian reports the devastation he and his family have experienced in learning about the child that he has no legal claim to until he/she turns eighteen. "It was a complete shock, I had no idea, and was so angry that such a thing had been kept from me. [Keli] has never even bothered to call and apologise for what she has put me through." "I never had a choice, I never had a say," he said. What we don't know is whether the father/s of the babies who were aborted even knew anything about them being conceived - given that she was able to hide those born and adopted out, it is highly unlikely. Under the current status quo, their rights (and those of all other fathers of unborn babies) are irrelevant. Perhaps the most frightening aspect to this whole ongoing nightmare, is the lack of monitoring and accountability of our law makers and abortion providers and the possibility that Ms Lane's is not the only case of its type. While justice may have been served for baby Tegan, there has been no justice for anyone else...not the men Ms Lane deceived, her own family, the babies she aborted, those she gave up for adoption (who have been denied any relationship with their fathers) and not even for Keli Lane, who was not provided the protection and counselling she so desperately needed.
He and a second man whose identity has also not been revealed are " the collateral damage from Lane's years of lies and deceit"...but what of the father/s of the two aborted babies? Our current laws also disqualify men from having any say in the lives...or deaths of their unborn children.
Life Network Australia calls on Ted Bailleu and the leaders of the others states to remember baby Tegan and to value new and unborn life, as well as their partners and families who currently have no say. We also call on state leaders to protect women, like Keli Lane, by restricting abortion and by providing support and counselling for women in all kinds of situations.
