By Penny Hoffmann
According to Ten News Australia, the Australian Labor Party has recently pushed for uniformed pregnancy termination laws, and billions of dollars of Commonwealth cash could be withheld from the states in an attempt to make it easier for women to access publicly funded abortions.
According to The Guardian, “In March, Labor pledged to work towards full decriminalization of abortion, open a reproductive health clinic to offer terminations in Tasmania, and require public hospitals to provide termination services”.
ABC News reported that Federal Labor is promising commonwealth funding for a Tasmanian abortion clinic and is using commonwealth funding to pressure all states and territories to make abortions more readily available in public hospitals.
ABC News also stated that the Tasmanian Government has agreed with a women’s health centre to “provide low-cost abortions”:
“In November, the Government revealed it had come to an agreement with Hampton Park Women’s Health Centre to provide low-cost abortions.
“The state had been without a low-cost service for nearly a year, after the previous private provider pulled out of the state because of a lack of demand.
“Despite the November announcement, Hampton Park Women’s Health Centre still has not begun offering services in Tasmania because the earmarked Hobart building needs work before it will be suitable for the clinic.”
Jo Flanagan from Women’s Health Australia stated that it was a confusing process for Tasmanian women to get abortions and outlined what the women’s health centre wanted to change about it:
“Our main concern is that women get access to the service, whether it’s done by a Tasmanian doctor or a Victorian doctor is of less concern to us.
“But what we ideally would want from any provider is a clear map for GPs, [saying] ‘this is what you tell women, this is where they go, this is the number to ring’, and we don’t even have that at the moment.”
Queensland’s Labor government announced on July 16th 2018 that it would introduce laws that decriminalize abortion in Queensland.
Deputy Premier for QLD Jackie Trad, MP for Griffith Terri Butler and Labor candidate for Dickson Ali France featured in a group photo with other protesters that held up signs stating “Labor for Choice” and “My Body My Choice”:
Both Jackie Trad and Terri Butler are members of Emily’s List, a political action committee based in the United States that advocates for pro-choice democratic females to enter into office:
Cherish Life Queensland (CLQ) reportedly aims to “educate the community on life issues, advocate (lobby all levels of government on life and death issues) and resource the community”.
According to its website, the group, formerly known as “Queensland Right to Life”, began as a reaction to American life issues, and is the first pro-life group in Australia and has spread to other states.
CLQ claims that it is not politically aligned with any party; it reaches out to anyone who will or will not listen in an attempt to promote being pro-life.
The Guardian reported the following:
The executive director of Cherish Life, Teeshan Johnson, has advertised her support for the Liberal party with an “I stand with Scott [Morrison]” filter on her Facebook profile.
Cherish Life has posted speeches from Liberal senator Amanda Stoker on its Facebook page, and Liberal National party MP George Christensen has addressed events, including the March for Life in September.
The real question for this matter is whether Teeshan Johnson and Cherish Life supported the liberal party in those instances because the Liberal Party is more likely to be pro-life, or whether both supported the Liberal party in those instances because both support more of the Liberal Party’s works.
