What we did in 2011-12
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Updated: 1 November 2012
Our Annual Report for 2011-12 is now available for download here. Check it out.
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RU486 licensed for Australian distribution
Updated: 3 September 2012
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced on 30 August that two drugs have been approved for distribution in Australia for use in early medical abortion. One of these drugs is mifepristone, also known as RU486, which has been available on a limited basis in Australia since 2006 when the ministerial veto on its importation was overturned in federal parliament (more info available on the Children by Choice website).
The TGA announcement means specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists, as well as GPs who undertake training from the license holder Marie Stopes International Australia, will be able to prescribe mifepristone to women for use in termination of pregnancy up to seven weeks gestation. It is hoped that this will result in expanded access to the drug, particularly in remote, rural and regional areas. At this stage it is unclear what the decision will mean for women in Queensland and how it will interact with Queensland abortion law. The implications for doctors currently approved to prescribe the drug to women with pregnancies up to nine weeks gestation is also unknown.
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Health group gets green light to import abortion drug into Australia - The Age, 30 August.
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Abortion drug RU486 makes TGA register - ABC News, 30 August.
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Arrival of RU486 in Australia a great leap forward for women - The Conversation, 30 August.
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Do Catholic hospital bans on abortion and contraception breach international human rights law?
Updated: 1 August 2012.
Catholic Health Australia (CHA) is responsible for the administration of over 20 public hospitals nation-wide. Their Code of Ethical Standards, which applies to staff in all CHA facilities, stipulates that:
a. Women diagnosed with a fetal anomaly, even one so drastic it means no chance of a successful birth, will not be offered an abortion, nor have a request for one granted, nor be referred to another hospital or provider who may provide this service;
b. Women whose fetuses die in utero will not be offered any drugs or surgery to help speed the inevitable miscarriage process;
c. Rape victims presenting at a Catholic hospital will not be offered emergency contraception, or be told of its existence, or be referred to a rape crisis centre which would discuss this with them, until the hospital has 'taken steps to exclude the likelihood of pregnancy'.
A report into the Guidelines and their impact on women found that they may breach the International Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, to which Australia is a signatory.
Download 'Catholic Healthcare Australia Guidelines as Torture, and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment: a human rights enquiry', by Melanie Poole from the Law Reform and Social Justice Centre at the Australian National University.
For regular news updates, follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
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Anti-choice protestor jailed
Updated: 2 May 2012.
Anti-choice websites are reporting today that long-time anti-choice activist, Graham Preston, has been jailed in Brisbane for refusing to pay thousands of dollars in fines accumulated during years of abortion clinic protests. Preston will reportedly serve eight months in jail, which one site claims is the longest jail sentence ever given to an Australian anti-choice activist; however, Peter James Knight was sentenced to life in prison after the 2001 murder of a security guard at a Melbourne abortion clinic.
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Fact sheets still available for download
We put together some brief fact sheets on aspects of abortion before the state election on 24 March. They're still relevant and still available for download:
Feature facts: The truth about Victorian abortion law.
Other fast facts:
- Who supports legal abortion?
- Queensland Abortion Law 101.
- Access to abortion for Queensland women.
- How safe is abortion?
- Won't the abortion rate rise if it's legalised?
- Unplanned pregnancy and abortion
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Party positions on abortion
Prior to the state election, we polled MPs and candidates on their position on Queensland abortion law. While 61% of respondents favoured a review of the law by the independent Queensland Law Reform Commission, all LNP respondents referred to a letter written by Campbell Newman in which he states the LNP 'has no policy to change abortion laws and has no intention to do so'. The letter did not address the issue of a referral to the Law Reform Commission. You can read the full letter here.
We've compiled the party positions on abortion here.
LNP:
‘The LNP has no policy to liberalise abortion laws; and no such policy is on the table for discussion.’
- Source: Letters from LNP candidates to constituents. Confirmed by answers to ACL questionnaire available online.
ALP:
‘Decisions in relation to abortion are best made by a woman, her partner and her doctor and these decisions are ultimately private matters. Any moves to change the current legislative provisions concerning abortion would have to be introduced as a Private Member’s Bill and the Labor Party would support the Bill being subject to a conscience vote'.
- Source: Letters to constituents, confirmed by answers to ACL questionnaire available online.
Greens:
‘Repealing all provisions of the Queensland Criminal Code and other sanctions regarding termination from Queensland legislation'.
- Source: Queensland Greens Reproductive Rights Policy, available online.
Katter’s Australian Party:
No specific policy available on abortion. Party core values state: ‘Every Member of the Party, including Members of Parliament, will, in making decisions, vote in the interests of their electorate, consistent with their conscience and in accordance with the following values and principles. Modern Australia was founded on Christian values and a responsibility to one's fellow man...The ideals for Australian society and government should be based upon these principles.’
- Source: KAP website.
One Nation:
'One Nation would enforce abortion as a last resort for health reasons only.'
- Source: Confirmed by answers to ACL questionnaire available online.
Posted: 5 December 2011
Calls for abortion to be referred to Queensland Law Reform Commission
In late 2011 the Courier Mail published an opinion piece by a leading maternal-fetal medicine specialist and an expert in criminal law, calling for Attorney-General Paul Lucas to send Queensland’s abortion laws to the state Law Reform Commission as a matter of immediacy.
As the piece states, in the past week a letter has been delivered to the Attorney-General on the same subject, signed by health and medical groups and doctors who remain concerned about the law and the restrictions it places on providing abortion care for women. A smaller article on page 14 of the Courier Mail states the Attorney-General has been sent ‘a series’ of letters by health and law professionals calling for the issue to be referred to the Queensland Law Reform Commission. The Attorney-General’s response to these requests has not been published.
Also published today in the Brisbane Times is an interview with Campbell Newman, Queensland LNP leader, on various topics including abortion law:
Mr Newman acknowledged he had received correspondence about the abortion issue but said no one had come up to him in the street about it.
“We have a position where we see no changes to the current laws. We won't be making any changes there whatsoever,” he said.
“Some of these issues are important to people, but they're also ones that distract a government that is intent on reform as we will be – reform that matters to people. We don't want to be distracted from the task at hand.”
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Why it's important to ask candidates' views on abortion prior to an election.
Queensland is due for a state election by March 2012. Do you know what your MP or candidate thinks about abortion? Brisbane Times asked federal parliamentarian Bob Katter how his state ally the Queensland Party would vote on abortion. According to Mr Katter, his Katter's Australian Party (aligned with the Queensland Party at a state level) has no specific policy on abortion, despite signalling it would not accept candidates who supported same-sex marriage or shunned 'Christian' values. However, the Queensland Party's Aidan McLindon, current member for Beaudesert in the state parliament, voiced his own opinion on abortion:
'Asked about the party’s position on abortion, Mr McLindon said it was guided by a Christian ethos.
“There’s a right and wrong,” the Beaudesert MP said.
“As far as I’m concerned I’m proud to say that any life should be protected, just like people jump up and down ‘save the whales’.
“Well guess what, I’m going to jump up and down and ‘save the humans’ – they have a right to live like you and I.” '
|
RU486 licensed for Australian distribution
Updated: 3 September 2012The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced on 30 August that two drugs have been approved for distribution in Australia for use in early medical abortion. One of these drugs is mifepristone, also known as RU486, which has been available on a limited basis in Australia since 2006 when the ministerial veto on its importation was overturned in federal parliament (more info available on the Children by Choice website).
The TGA announcement means specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists, as well as GPs who undertake training from the license holder Marie Stopes International Australia, will be able to prescribe mifepristone to women for use in termination of pregnancy up to seven weeks gestation. It is hoped that this will result in expanded access to the drug, particularly in remote, rural and regional areas. At this stage it is unclear what the decision will mean for women in Queensland and how it will interact with Queensland abortion law. The implications for doctors currently approved to prescribe the drug to women with pregnancies up to nine weeks gestation is also unknown.
-
Health group gets green light to import abortion drug into Australia - The Age, 30 August.
-
Abortion drug RU486 makes TGA register - ABC News, 30 August.
-
Arrival of RU486 in Australia a great leap forward for women - The Conversation, 30 August.
Do Catholic hospital bans on abortion and contraception breach international human rights law?
a. Women diagnosed with a fetal anomaly, even one so drastic it means no chance of a successful birth, will not be offered an abortion, nor have a request for one granted, nor be referred to another hospital or provider who may provide this service;
b. Women whose fetuses die in utero will not be offered any drugs or surgery to help speed the inevitable miscarriage process;
c. Rape victims presenting at a Catholic hospital will not be offered emergency contraception, or be told of its existence, or be referred to a rape crisis centre which would discuss this with them, until the hospital has 'taken steps to exclude the likelihood of pregnancy'.
A report into the Guidelines and their impact on women found that they may breach the International Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, to which Australia is a signatory.
Download 'Catholic Healthcare Australia Guidelines as Torture, and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment: a human rights enquiry', by Melanie Poole from the Law Reform and Social Justice Centre at the Australian National University.
For regular news updates, follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Anti-choice protestor jailed
Fact sheets still available for download
Feature facts: The truth about Victorian abortion law.
- Who supports legal abortion?
- Queensland Abortion Law 101.
- Access to abortion for Queensland women.
- How safe is abortion?
- Won't the abortion rate rise if it's legalised?
- Unplanned pregnancy and abortion
Party positions on abortion
Posted: 5 December 2011
Calls for abortion to be referred to Queensland Law Reform Commission
In late 2011 the Courier Mail published an opinion piece by a leading maternal-fetal medicine specialist and an expert in criminal law, calling for Attorney-General Paul Lucas to send Queensland’s abortion laws to the state Law Reform Commission as a matter of immediacy.
As the piece states, in the past week a letter has been delivered to the Attorney-General on the same subject, signed by health and medical groups and doctors who remain concerned about the law and the restrictions it places on providing abortion care for women. A smaller article on page 14 of the Courier Mail states the Attorney-General has been sent ‘a series’ of letters by health and law professionals calling for the issue to be referred to the Queensland Law Reform Commission. The Attorney-General’s response to these requests has not been published.
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Why it's important to ask candidates' views on abortion prior to an election.
Queensland is due for a state election by March 2012. Do you know what your MP or candidate thinks about abortion? Brisbane Times asked federal parliamentarian Bob Katter how his state ally the Queensland Party would vote on abortion. According to Mr Katter, his Katter's Australian Party (aligned with the Queensland Party at a state level) has no specific policy on abortion, despite signalling it would not accept candidates who supported same-sex marriage or shunned 'Christian' values. However, the Queensland Party's Aidan McLindon, current member for Beaudesert in the state parliament, voiced his own opinion on abortion:
'Asked about the party’s position on abortion, Mr McLindon said it was guided by a Christian ethos.
“There’s a right and wrong,” the Beaudesert MP said.
“As far as I’m concerned I’m proud to say that any life should be protected, just like people jump up and down ‘save the whales’.
“Well guess what, I’m going to jump up and down and ‘save the humans’ – they have a right to live like you and I.” '