Adding to the repertoire
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
February 16th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
*applause*
February 16th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Bravo, Suki. Chalk one up for commonsense.
The absence of a voting record as the vote was conducted by voice is unfortunate. You could have used that as a great index of politicians who are not only anti-logic, but are hard-boiled party politicos whose self-interest exceeds the human rights of 51% of the population.
Suki, kindly make it your biz to check out who voted which way in the House. Much appreciated.
February 17th, 2006 at 10:43 am
I never thought I’d say this Weezil, but I agree with you (in part). The voice vote was profoundly dissappointing. As someone who watched every speech from the gallery in the House of Reps and the Senate, I thought it was disgraceful a division wasn’t called on the third reading.
The 2nd reading vote will suffice as a record of the vote however. A very bad day in Federal politics. But I can assure you pro-abortionists, we will never accept abortion. Tony Abbott may well parade the silly ‘safe, legal, and rare’ line. I certainly won’t rest until abortion is ‘unthinkable, illegal and non-existent.’
February 17th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Marcel, your use of the term ‘pro-abortionists’ is an insulting, perjorative misnomer.
Suki, myself and the other people around here are not ‘pro-abortion,’ we are pro-choice. That is to say that we favour the ability of women to control their own reproduction via choice of a number of different options. RU486 is simply one of the options aside from surgical termination and contraception.
Yes, we know that you would like to damn, insult and offend us in any way you can find, but this one isn’t flying.
If you wish to work toward making abortion less necessary, you should be lobbying to increase the amount of education and information about contraception, as well as increase the availability of mechanical contraceptive devices such as condoms to young men and women.
However, at the end of the day, through no fault of the users of birth control, contraception DOES FAIL from time to time. When this happens, if we would live by your rules, the sole option available is for the woman to carry to term and give the child up for adoption. This is not a choice. It is a restriction designed to force women to behave as YOU deem appropriate- not as they do. This is anti-choice. Worse, it is psychologically much more harmful to a woman to carry to term, deliver and give the child up for adoption than it is to terminate a pregnancy. It also can be a very poor choice for the child.
Marcel, you’re only in this for yourself. You clearly don’t care about women OR children, or you would be solidly behind freedom of reproductive choice.
February 17th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
marcel,
I’m disappointed that you did in fact ‘rest’, else you would have been visiting here yesterday.
Seriously, what now for you?
1. The states (and territories) hold the legal right to legislate for/against abortion and that discussion was had three decades ago.
2. The TGA will be doing what they are designed to do.
3. Citizens will fuck without wanting to have babies. Unplanned pregnancies will occur. Babies will be born and unwanted pregnancies will be terminated.
4. god will be in your heaven and secularism will still be dominant in Australian culture.
5. Abortion happens marcel; let’s make it safe.
February 17th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I certainly won’t rest until abortion is ‘unthinkable, illegal and non-existent.’
To paraphrase Charlton Heston – Over my dead body.
February 18th, 2006 at 12:28 am
[…] The bill to move final approval authority for RU486 to the Therapeutic Goods Administration has passed in the House, to be met by much celebration by Australian feminists. […]
February 25th, 2006 at 10:13 am
[…] I recently found myself discussing whether young women define themselves as feminists or not with a fellow blogger. It was not long after the RU486 vote came down and the country was reminded of the power of four women. […]