Women who require late-term abortions are being demonised in Australia – again

As South Australia debates a bill to decriminalise abortion, the same misinformation is being peddled

Gina Rushton
Thu 29 Oct 2020

It wouldn’t be a debate about abortion without a flagrant misinformation campaign about terminations after the first trimester.

A bill to decriminalise abortion was this month introduced in South Australia, the last jurisdiction to do so, and opponents of the legislation have already set about claiming if passed it would legalise and in fact encourage “abortion up to birth”, an offensive but ultimately meaningless phrase. It has been the relentless catchphrase of anti-abortion lobbyists, religious leaders and conservative politicians in every single push to modernise abortion laws in this country but it is not uniquely Australian.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/29/women-who-require-late-term-abortions-are-being-demonised-in-australia-again

LNP senator and Broncos chairman back Queensland anti-abortion campaign containing ‘baseless’ claims

Exclusive: claims made in campaign material by rightwing lobby group Cherish Life about abortion laws are labelled ‘disinformation’

Ben Smee
Fri 16 Oct 2020

The Liberal National party senator Gerard Rennick and the Brisbane Broncos chairman, Karl Morris, are among the financial backers of a prominent anti-abortion “disinformation” campaign targeting marginal seats ahead of the Queensland election.

Billboards, leaflets and advertisements authorised by the lobby group, Cherish Life, include provocative statements about Queensland’s abortion laws that have repeatedly been found to be baseless.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/16/lnp-senator-and-broncos-chairman-back-queensland-anti-abortion-campaign-containing-baseless-claims

Queensland election: LNP tries to keep anti-abortion push out of sight

Deb Frecklington seeks broad support in a state that backs abortion rights, but some LNP MPs and poll candidates are pressing for a more divisive approach

Ben Smee
Fri 16 Oct 2020

At a campaign stop this week, the Queensland opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, was asked about the Liberal National party’s policy to review the state’s abortion laws. She quickly changed the subject.

“I haven’t got the details of that yet, it’s not a priority,” Frecklington said.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/17/why-queenslands-opposition-leader-wants-partys-anti-abortion-push-kept-out-of-election-sight

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

Protesters banned from Queensland abortion clinics from today

Protesters banned from Queensland abortion clinics from today

By Felicity Caldwell
3 December 2018

Queensland women seeking a pregnancy termination will be shielded from protesters from Monday, as abortion law reform comes into effect.

From Monday, abortion will no longer be a crime and women will be able to have a termination on request up to 22 weeks, or after that gestation with consent from two doctors.

Continued: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/protesters-banned-from-queensland-abortion-clinics-from-today-20181203-p50jt5.html

Australia – Politicians Who Voted to Legalise Abortion Are Now Receiving Threats

Politicians Who Voted to Legalise Abortion Are Now Receiving Threats
Anti-abortion groups have vowed to "remove" MPs who voted for change.

by Gavin Butler
Oct 18 2018

This week, the Queensland parliament voted to change a 119-year-old clause in the state’s criminal code and officially legalise abortion. Both Labor and Liberal National Party (LNP) members were given a conscience vote, and the legislative change—which now grants people the right to request an abortion up to 22 weeks into the pregnancy—was approved by a comfortable majority of 50 votes to 41.

Among those 50 were three LNP MPs—Tim Nicholls, Steve Minnikin and Jann Stuckey—who voted against their party’s formal policy on abortion in support of the new laws. In so doing, the MPs opened themselves up to criticism and condemnation from within their own ranks, The Guardian reports—to say nothing of the wrath from anti-abortion activists.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/yw9jy5/politicians-who-voted-to-legalise-abortion-are-now-receiving-threats

Queensland parliament votes to legalise abortion

Queensland parliament votes to legalise abortion
Abortion will become legal until 22 weeks gestation, and thereafter with the approval of two doctors

Ben Smee
Wed 17 Oct 2018

Abortion will become legal in Queensland, after the state’s parliament voted to support new legislation and erase a 119-year-old “morality” section of the state’s criminal code.

Loud cheers in the legislative assembly chamber at 7.42pm on Wednesday brought to an end a 50-year struggle by women’s groups in a state once notorious for its conservatism.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/17/queensland-parliament-votes-to-legalise-abortion

Threats of reprisals against Queensland MPs who voted to legalise abortio

Threats of reprisals against Queensland MPs who voted to legalise abortion

By Allyson Horn
Oct 17, 2018

Pro-life groups have threatened MPs who voted to remove abortion from Queensland's criminal code, vowing to remove them from office.

MPs were given a conscience vote in Parliament and voted 50 to 41 to reform the 19th century laws.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-18/threats-of-reprisals-against-mps-who-voted-to-legalise-abortion/10390220

‘You were shamed, punished’: Queensland changes its mind on abortion

'You were shamed, punished': Queensland changes its mind on abortion
Next week the state will likely decriminalise pregnancy termination. It’s been a long time coming

by Ben Smee
Sat 13 Oct 2018

“They make me feel like a criminal,” says Brisbane woman Zena Mason. “I’ve been called a murderer for what I did. I have had the most vulgar comments. People seem to think I woke up one day and decided to have an abortion at 20 weeks.”

Next week, Queensland is expected to repeal the 119-year-old section of the state’s criminal code that makes abortion illegal. For more than 40 years, debate about termination of pregnancy in the state has been often emotional and vicious. Women like Mason wrestle with a grim choice, then find out they’re breaking the law.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/14/you-were-shamed-punished-queensland-changes-its-mind-on-abortion

Evangelical Christians step up abortion clinic protests in Queenslan

Evangelical Christians step up abortion clinic protests in Queensland
Pro-choice groups send volunteers to escort women as state prepares to decriminalise

Ben Smee
Mon 18 Jun 2018

An evangelical group has ramped up demonstrations outside several Brisbane abortion clinics as Queensland prepares to reform its 1899 laws that make abortion a criminal offence.

Guardian Australia is aware of several recent verbal clashes between members of the anti-abortion group “Project 139” and clinic patients. The group has sought and received permits to conduct protests at four Brisbane clinics until at least August.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/19/evangelical-christians-step-up-abortion-clinic-protests-in-queensland