Telehealth has improved abortion access for women around Australia. We can’t let it lapse

A dearth of political leadership means abortion drugs remain inaccessible, unsafe and unaffordable for many women

Gina Rushton
Published on Tue 14 Jul 2020

It has been 24 years since the federal government chose the partial privatisation of Telstra over the rights of Australian women to safely terminate a pregnancy with abortion drugs. In 1996, anti-abortion independent Brian Harradine, who held the balance of power in the Senate, agreed to support John Howard’s one-third float of the telecommunications company if the government amended legislation to give the health minister veto to prohibit the import, manufacture or use of abortion drug RU486 (mifepristone).

A perpetual dearth of political leadership in the subsequent quarter century has meant the drugs remain inaccessible, unaffordable and at times unsafe for many women in Australia outside of a certain income or major city.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/jul/15/abortion-drugs-remain-inaccessible-unsafe-and-unaffordable-for-many-australian-women

Australia – Scott Morrison targeted in anonymous leaflets over NSW abortion bill

Scott Morrison targeted in anonymous leaflets over NSW abortion bill
Flyer repeats series of false claims about the abortion reform bill currently the subject of a conscience vote in the NSW upper house

Paul Karp
Tue 24 Sep 2019

Anonymously authored anti-abortion leaflets in Canberra have targeted Scott Morrison for remaining “silent” while states including New South Wales have pushed to decriminalise abortion.

The flyer – which is not authorised but is marked as from the End Violence Against Unborn Babies Coalition – is almost identical to one targeting the Berejiklian government with inflammatory rhetoric comparing abortion to murder in Nazi concentration camps.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/scott-morrison-targeted-in-anonymous-leaflets-over-nsw-abortion-bill

Abortion bill faces resistance in Australia’s New South Wales

Abortion bill faces resistance in Australia's New South Wales
State's upper house drags feet in passing law legalising abortion despite an overwhelming 75-percent support by voters.

by Kate Walton
Sep 17, 2019

Canberra, Australia - Debate has begun in the upper house of the state of New South Wales (NSW) to decriminalise abortion, but what was expected to be a straightforward legislative process has triggered a furious backlash from conservative politicians and religious groups.

The Reproductive Health Care Act 2019, which seeks to bring the state in line with the rest of Australia, would allow abortion up to 22 weeks. It was passed by the state lower house in August, with 59 votes in favour and 31 against.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/abortion-bill-faces-resistance-australia-south-wales-190917075212482.html

Abortion bill in NSW used to push Australian politics further to the right

Abortion bill in NSW used to push Australian politics further to the right

By Cheryl Crisp
16 September 2019

Legislation to decriminalise abortion in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), is being used by forces within the state’s ruling Liberal Party to push politics even further in the direction of extreme right-wing populism.

The Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019, which passed in the state’s Legislative Assembly (lower house) on August 8, is scheduled to be voted on in the upper house (Legislative Council) tomorrow, September 17. A delay was demanded by its right-wing opponents in order to gain time to block the bill’s passage in its present form.

Continued: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/09/16/abor-s16.html

NSW abortion bill: Sunrise and Seven News air false pro-choice chant claim

NSW abortion bill: Sunrise and Seven News air false pro-choice chant claim
Barnaby Joyce falsely claims rally chanted ‘put the foetus in the bin’ despite organiser confirming chant was ‘bigots’

Amanda Meade
Mon 16 Sep 2019

Seven News and Sunrise have repeated a false claim that pro-choice activists campaigning in favour of the New South Wales abortion legislation chanted “put the foetus in the bin” as supporters and opponents of the bill clashed in Sydney on Saturday.

The actual words were “put the bigots in the bin”, but Sunrise co-hosts David Koch and Samantha Armytage allowed Barnaby Joyce to repeat the claim unchallenged on Monday morning in a live interview on the program.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/nsw-abortion-bill-sunrise-and-seven-news-air-false-pro-choice-chant-claim

16.09.2019

Life Choice Australia

put the bigots in the bin

put the foetus in the bin

Reproductive Healthcare Reform Bill

Sinead Canning

the campaign manager of the Pro-Choice Alliance

Australia

Oceania

Anti-choice

NSW – The social media tactics being used to shape the abortion debate

The social media tactics being used to shape the abortion debate

By Paige Cockburn, state political reporter Ashleigh Raper, and Kevin Nguyen
Posted Sat Aug 24, 2019

While politicians in NSW debate a controversial bill that would decriminalise abortion, opponents of the new laws have been winning the fight in cyberspace.

The bill, proposed by Independent MP Alex Greenwich, was last week debated in the Upper House and is set to be voted on next month.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-25/how-anti-abortion-campaigners-are-winning-the-fight-online/11433962

How the US right-to-life movement is influencing the abortion debate in Australia

How the US right-to-life movement is influencing the abortion debate in Australia

August 21, 2019
Prudence Flowers

As the abortion decriminalisation bill gradually makes its way through the NSW parliament, opponents have been increasingly drawing on their long relationship with the right-to-life movement in the United States to lobby against the measure and try to push for more restrictive amendments.

This has been a trend in the anti-abortion movement in Australia for a while now. Activists have adopted some of the most successful elements of the US movement’s rhetoric and tactics in recent years in an effort to influence the debate in Australia.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-right-to-life-movement-is-influencing-the-abortion-debate-in-australia-121974

NSW – Anti-abortion groups rally after decriminalisation bill delayed until September

Anti-abortion groups rally after decriminalisation bill delayed until September
A vote on the bill to decriminalise abortion had been expected this week but opponents have campaigned furiously against it

Michael McGowan
Tue 20 Aug 2019

Thousands of anti-abortion protesters have rallied outside the NSW parliament after opponents of a bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales successfully delayed a final vote on the legislation until next month.

The parliament’s upper house began debating the reproductive healthcare reform bill on Tuesday, almost two weeks after it passed its first hurdle in the lower chamber.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/20/nsw-abortion-bill-delayed-until-september-amid-liberal-division

Australia – Women challenge authorities to #ArrestUs in campaign for abortion reform

Women challenge authorities to #ArrestUs in campaign for abortion reform

By Caitlin Welsh
Aug 6, 2019

A Sydney woman took inspiration from an iconic decades-old stunt when she created the #ArrestUs campaign on Monday.

Less than 24 hours later, hundreds of people had joined her in challenging lawmakers to either finally make abortion legal, or enforce the 119-year-old law that says it’s a crime — and arrest them for ending their pregnancies.

Continued: https://mashable.com/article/arrest-us-australian-abortion-debate/

06.08.2019

‘Arrest us’: women who have had abortions speak out to support NSW decriminalisation

'Arrest us': women who have had abortions speak out to support NSW decriminalisation
Emily Mayo, who underwent a termination in 2005, starts #ArrestUs campaign on Facebook and Twitter

Lisa Martin
Mon 5 Aug 2019

Scores of women who have had abortions have come out on social media urging authorities to arrest them, ahead of the New South Wales state parliament considering a decriminalisation bill this week.

NSW is the only Australian state or territory that has neglected to modernise abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/05/arrest-us-women-who-have-had-abortions-speak-out-to-support-nsw-decriminalisation