Calls for abortion to be referred to Queensland's Law Reform Commission
This week Courier Mail has 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.”
We need you!
Send an email to both
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and
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TODAY telling them the issue is important to you and you support a referral to the Queensland Law Reform Commission. It need only be a couple of lines. If you’re stuck for words, here are some points you could include:
- Queensland’s abortion law is the oldest in Australia and is considerably out of step with clinical practice and public opinion.
- Reliable polling consistently shows that around 80% of the voting public supports the removal of abortion from the Criminal Code.
- A United Nations report on the human right to health recently described the application of criminal laws or other legal restrictions to abortion as ‘ineffective and disproportionate’.
- Leading health, medical and legal experts support a referral to the Queensland Law Reform Commission.
- A Queensland Law Reform Commission inquiry would allow for comprehensive public consultation, allow all Queenslanders a say on abortion law, provide an independent analysis of the current law and its impact on doctors and women, and recommend the best way forward in terms of reforming it.
There’s more info on current abortion law and its implications on our Facts page.
Now is the time – send an email to Paul Lucas and Campbell Newman today, and let them know this is an important issue for Queenslanders.
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Disappointed with your response?
Throughout October and November Pro Choice Qld members participated in a postcard campaign. The postcards were aimed at the Premier, Attorney-General and LNP Leader Campbell Newman, pushing for Queensland's outdated abortion laws to be referred to the state's Law Reform Commission for review. If you've since received a response from the Attorney-General or from Campbell Newman,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
with us.
Some of you have contacted us after receiving a letter from the Premier's office in response to the postcards you've sent, stating the Premier's personal position that abortion should be a private matter for women and their doctors but ignoring the request to refer the matter to the Queensland Law Reform Commission. There's a response downloadable here, for you to send back to the Premier in response. Let us know how you go!
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Abortion and human rights: new resources
Two new reports are available on abortion and human rights.
In October, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Health released a report on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This report examined the effect of criminal sanctions on aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including legal restrictions on abortion, as well as other aspects of sexual and reproductive health including access to sexuality education and contraceptive information. The report found that restrictions in these areas violate the human right to health and infringe human dignity. The Special Rapporteur also commented that the used of criminal laws (ie in relation to abortion) as a means to achieving certain public health outcomes is 'often ineffective and disproportionate'.
Closer to home, an Australian researcher has examined the Catholic Healthcare Australia guidelines surrounding the refusal of CHA hospitals to provide emergency contraception or abortion services and found there is a 'strong likelihood' that not only are some human rights violations occuring under the guidelines, but that some of these violations would rise to the level of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
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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.” '
Read the full story from Brisbane Times.
So: do YOU know where your elected representative stands? Or the candidate who is running in your electorate? Contact them today and find out. Find out which electorate you're in here. Update your electoral enrolment here. Find your sitting member's contact details here. Check out your candidates by electorate for the Liberal National Party here, or contact the Labor Party or the Queensland Greens to see who is running in your electorate.
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This week Courier Mail has 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.
We need you!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Disappointed with your response?
Throughout October and November Pro Choice Qld members participated in a postcard campaign. The postcards were aimed at the Premier, Attorney-General and LNP Leader Campbell Newman, pushing for Queensland's outdated abortion laws to be referred to the state's Law Reform Commission for review. If you've since received a response from the Attorney-General or from Campbell Newman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with us.
Some of you have contacted us after receiving a letter from the Premier's office in response to the postcards you've sent, stating the Premier's personal position that abortion should be a private matter for women and their doctors but ignoring the request to refer the matter to the Queensland Law Reform Commission. There's a response downloadable here, for you to send back to the Premier in response. Let us know how you go!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Abortion and human rights: new resources
Two new reports are available on abortion and human rights.
In October, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Health released a report on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This report examined the effect of criminal sanctions on aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including legal restrictions on abortion, as well as other aspects of sexual and reproductive health including access to sexuality education and contraceptive information. The report found that restrictions in these areas violate the human right to health and infringe human dignity. The Special Rapporteur also commented that the used of criminal laws (ie in relation to abortion) as a means to achieving certain public health outcomes is 'often ineffective and disproportionate'.
Closer to home, an Australian researcher has examined the Catholic Healthcare Australia guidelines surrounding the refusal of CHA hospitals to provide emergency contraception or abortion services and found there is a 'strong likelihood' that not only are some human rights violations occuring under the guidelines, but that some of these violations would rise to the level of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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.” '
Read the full story from Brisbane Times.
So: do YOU know where your elected representative stands? Or the candidate who is running in your electorate? Contact them today and find out. Find out which electorate you're in here. Update your electoral enrolment here. Find your sitting member's contact details here. Check out your candidates by electorate for the Liberal National Party here, or contact the Labor Party or the Queensland Greens to see who is running in your electorate.
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