Australia – To put an end to the abortion wars, we need mass struggle

Issue: 187
1st July 2025
Judy McVey

The global surge of attacks on abortion rights has been a wake-up call for pro-choice activists in Australia.1 In June 2022, thousands rallied in solidarity with women in the United States when Roe v Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court. Many media commentators argued that Australia was different from the US and abortion rights were safe here. After all, between 2002 and 2023, regional governments around the country removed abortion from criminal laws. Decriminalisation reflected community-wide popularity for legal abortion. Polls show that more than 80 percent of Australians believe “abortion should be legal and available in Australia in all circumstances”; anti-abortion sentiment is generally less than 10 percent.2

However, the bigots do not simply acknowledge defeat and disappear. Anti-abortionists inside and outside mainstream parties in Australia were emboldened by the rise of the far right and anti-abortion politics in the US and Europe.

Continued: https://isj.org.uk/abortion-wars-australia/

Abortion is back in the headlines in Australia. The debates in the United States tell us why

October 23, 2024
Prudence Flowers

The 2022 news that the US Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion sent shockwaves around the world.

For Australian opponents of abortion who had long looked to the US for leadership and inspiration, it prompted rejoicing. As a leader of Cherish Life Queensland put it, “if the USA can do it, with God’s help, so can we”.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-back-in-the-headlines-in-australia-the-debates-in-the-united-states-tell-us-why-241778

Is abortion really on the ballot again in Australia? State politics indicates it could be

By Q+A and RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas
Oct 20, 2024

Fierce debates about abortion have been raging in two Australian states during the past few weeks, leaving many scratching their heads wondering why it's suddenly part of Australian political discourse again.

In Australia, all states and territories have decriminalised abortion, but in the United States it's a different matter. Since 2022, 21 states have banned or restricted abortion to lower than the standard set by Roe v Wade, which protected reproductive rights for nearly half a century until it was spectacularly dumped by the Supreme Court.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-21/abortion-debate-in-queensland-and-south-australia-politics/104489634

Abortion has become a surprise topic ahead of Queensland’s election. What are the rules across Australia?

By Emma Pollard
Oct 14, 2024

Abortion has become a surprise subject of debate in the Queensland election – putting an issue that many Australians might have thought was settled, back on the national agenda.

If the polls are correct, the Liberal National Party (LNP) will sweep Queensland Labor out of office on October 26, re-electing a swathe of MPs who voted to keep abortion in the criminal code in 2018 and ushering in some candidates who've publicly expressed anti-abortion views.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-15/abortion-queensland-election-kap-lnp-women-health/104468956

14.10.2024

Liberal National Party

Queensland abortion law

Australia – LNP under pressure to thwart late-term abortion laws

LNP under pressure to thwart late-term abortion laws

Jared Owens
August 24, 2018

Queensland’s Liberal National Party is under pressure from Canberra to thwart the state Labor government’s efforts to legalise late-term abortion on medical advice.

Federal party MPs are publicly leaning on the state Liberal National Party opposition, which is privately discussing whether to grant members a conscience vote on the controversial bill, which would allow terminations on request up to 22 weeks’ gestation.

Continued: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/lnp-under-pressure-to-thwart-lateterm-abortion-laws/news-story/644ae597cb0ed55ac2459393e3d2868c?nk=d2feef8765d9eded8a6860bac74e0889-1535128247

24.08.2018