Today, in Canberra, as the result of four amazing women, MPs have respected long standing (state) abortion laws, understood reality, ignored religious zealots and ministerial loops and voted in a way that makes me proud to be a woman (and bring up the girlchild) in Australia.

Federal MPs in the House of representatives have voted in favour of a bill handing control over the abortion drug RU486 to the TGA.

If I ever have quads I’ll name them Lyn, Fiona, Judith and Claire. They will be named in honour of four brave and determined women.

Thank you.

 
Image from here   

You may remember my local MP more for his howlers than his contributions.

On Saturday I wrote: 

Dear Mr.Cadman,

We live in Dural and you are our MP.

We believe in a woman’s reproductive rights and therefore respectfully ask you to vote in favour of the bill asking for the change in how RU486 is handled.
The TGA is the appropriate body to decide on the drug’s safety and efficacy.

A woman and her doctor are the appropriate people to decide if, when and how an abortion happens.

Abortion happens; make it safe.

 

Regards etc.
Suki Lombard and family.

On Monday he wrote:

Dear Lombard family,

Currently RU486 is not available in Australia to bring about termination of pregnancy. A legislative provision allows the Minister for Health to exercise his discretion to declare certain medicines and drugs as being unavailable for use in Australia.  Some time ago a previous Minister made that declaration for RU486.

In the Senate, Democrat Senator Lyn Allison has successfully moved a Private Member’s Bill amending the current legislation to remove the ministerial discretion and make the sole arbiter of drug availability the Therapeutic Goods Authority.  She does not mention RU486 in her amendment. 

Because RU486 is the only drug which has been declared unavailable, the removal of discretion will only apply to RU486. 

I am opposed to the removal of ministerial discretion and to making RU486 a drug available for the termination of pregnancy.  All medical evidence that I have seen is so ambivalent about its safety.  There are very strong limitations for the use of RU486 in the United States which have been imposed by the US Food and Drug Administration. 

Please find enclosed an article which is about to be published.  I think it summarises the main points on the current debate about the drug RU 486.  The points which are made in the article refer to the dangers of the drug, ministerial responsibility and life issues.

 

Yours sincerely

Alan Cadman

and attached this:   Read the rest of this entry »

Today Pregnancy Help Australia, which is funded by the Government to give impartial advice to women about pregnancy choices, argued the abortion rate is already very high.

"Responsibility for approval for the use of a powerful drug which has controversial consequences, is deliberately life-destroying…should remain with the Minister for Health and Ageing." – PHA Executive Officer Anne Foster.

PHA receives nearly $250,000 a year in federal funding to provide impartial and non-directive advice to women about unwanted pregnancies.

I assume in an effort to show non-directive and impartial advice the PHA also makes submissions to social support seminars advocating for the reduction of pregnancy-to-birth rates in Australians living in poverty and disadvantage, as the rate of children growing up in such life threatening conditions is already very high.

Counselling under the guise of social engineering is despicable.

Using your position of expert to a vulnerable person is unethical and morally bankrupt. Make no mistake PHA, your comments today with terms such as ‘unborn baby’ ‘slowly killed’ clearly articulate your ideological outlook.

Using taxpayer money to fund your agenda in a secular society is actionable. 

Original image from here

Next Monday, the 6th of February, Edith Weisberg will give evidence in the Senate inquiry into the federal Health Minister’s power of veto over the licensing of the abortion drug RU486. The session precedes a parliamentary conscience vote on the issue, expected on Thursday. 

"I’m going to say that it’s not a question of the availability of abortion in Australia. It’s a matter of women having the same choice [of abortion method] as women in other Western countries." – Dr. Edith Weisberg.

"If you’ve had fun, you can’t get away with it. You have to punish them [women] for their irresponsible and lascivious behaviour." – ibid.

Despite society’s ostensible progress in endorsing women’s sexuality, Weisberg believes abortion control is about repression and so do I.

We are women who can be trusted to make reproductive choices. 

We are NOT little girls who need to ask permission or forgiveness of a patriarchal society.   

Original image from here