Liberal MP not so pro-choice

April 30th, 2005

Peter Slipper came out as anti-choice while attempting to defend proposed limits to the government’s IVF program.

The Government is considering limiting Medicare funded in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to three cycles a year for women under the age of 42, and a total of three cycles in all for women over 42.

"Now, the Federal Government funds 100,000 abortions each year through the Medicare system, and we’ve got a range of views in the community on this, but I find it difficult to understand that there’s an uncapped ability to kill unborn children, and yet on the other hand there seems to be this suggestion that in some way, shape or form the creation of life through the IVF program should be limited."
–Peter Slipper

Peter, you need to rethink the oxymoron that "killing unborn children" is.
While IVF and abortion both involve a Uterus and a woman, they are very separate health issues. Every woman has the right to control her reproductive health, whether that be uterus full or uterus empty.


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Posted in Political, Pro-choice | No Comments »

UNSW Student guild adopts this government’s Bribe-a-voter technique for upcoming rally

April 26th, 2005

The Federal government is denouncing student groups who may receive a cash incentive for influencing a political outcome.

The Federal government is hypocritical in their comment regarding this. Last May, in the form of a new maternity payment, commonly known as the ‘baby bonus’ HoWARd and his government did exactly the same thing – cash incentive for influencing a political outcome.

A spokesman for the federal Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, said yesterday,

"The average, normal students whose compulsorily collected fees are paying for this sort of rent-a-crowd have probably had enough. This is a perfect example of how they continue to be forced to pay for activities that they may not need or want."

What if we were to change fees to taxes, and activities to children?

Just how dismissive would the good Doctor be if the UNSW Student guild was offering cash incentives to student groups who did not go to the rally?


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Bring Carpenters, hammers and nails

April 24th, 2005

HoWARd’s decision to send 450 extra troops to Iraq is certainly unpopular, and not just with Australians.

Speaking days before today’s scheduled arrival of new Australian troops in Iraq, Sheik Muhnad Al Garayi said Australian troops, such as the Americans and the British, were not welcome.
Sheik Muhnad Al Garayi was quoted as saying,

"We are a peaceful people, but if someone touches us, we will strike back, we will kill them if we have to."

"It is incomprehensible to us. I would like to ask the Australian people ‘what is the reason for your troops to come over here?’ We have our own police, our militia. We are from this moment looking at the Australians as occupying troops and the Australian people . . . as a victim of the American and British strategy. What is the difference between an American pulling the trigger to shoot someone and an Australian holding the body while the murder is done? It is all part of the same crime. To help the invader kill people in their own homes, in their own country, is criminal."

Posted in Anti-war | No Comments »

Luscious Lynn confronting Canberra with women’s rights

April 21st, 2005

The Australian Democrats will respond with a Bill of their own supporting women’s choice on abortions.

"I want to send a very strong message to Senator Boswell to say that he doesn’t speak for the whole parliament. He doesn’t speak for the women in the parliament."

"(He is) dictating to women and making them fearful about terminations and telling them they don’t have the choices that I believe women expect and have had for some time in this country."
– Passionately stated by Democrats Senator Lyn Allison.

Deep and sincere respect and thanks to you Senator!


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Six words Senator: A Woman and her Healthcare professional.

April 19th, 2005

Senator Boswell is pleased to have facts. He has data that reveals that 91,000 terminations of pregnancy procedures were carried out in Australia in 2003/04. The data is misleading as all terminations come under the same Medicare number. The Senator states that,

“I think this is such a monumental decision in people’s lives that they should have counselling.”

Who is the Senator referring to when he says ‘they’?

  1. The woman and her husband?
  2. The woman and her boyfriend?
  3. The woman and her partner?
  4. The woman and the progenitor? (in case it’s not her husband, boyfriend or partner)
  5. The woman and her mother?
  6. The woman and her father?
  7. The woman and her sister?
  8. The woman and her brother?
  9. The woman and her child/ren?
  10. The woman and her employer?
  11. The woman and her support person?
  12. The woman and her support pet?
  13. The woman and all of the above?

Counselling for all these people already exists. It is part of the healthcare professional’s role to provide a woman with local support services (for both continuing with the pregnancy and terminating it). The woman can then take any or all of the above people/pets along to any or all the appointments she makes.

The decision to continue with a pregnancy or terminate it remains a private one. The woman will tell those she trusts. She will seek advice from the sage from within the trusted group. A call from a well-meaning, but unwanted Counsellor is not ok. The process and intent has the potential to create involuntary clients. Counsellors have little impact (and even less attendance rate) on such a cohort. Moreover, ramifications for non-compliance (a client hanging up, not wanting to come, missing a scheduled appointment, saying “fuck off”, lying about who they are, feigning wrong numbers, saying “oh she’s moved out” etc.), if in fact such a thing is built-in to Senator Boswell’s grand plan the consequences for non-compliance are too scary to contemplate.

Senator Boswell you are raising poor, unnecessary, invasive-potential policy.
Yet again, not placing the woman and her reproductive rights central to the issue.

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Image from here

Posted in Pro-choice | 1 Comment »

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