Over this past week there has been heated debate in Victoria’s Parliament over a bill to decriminalise abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. Personally, I have no problem with the legislation repealing abortion entirely from the criminal statutes; and in fact believe that it is a private matter between a woman and her doctor. But apparently the Catholic Archbishop for Melbourne has major problems with the legislation. He has such problems with it that he recklessly declared that Catholic private hospitals may be forced to close; or would force doctors and nurses to refer women to clinics that perform the procedure against their moral beliefs.
The Archbishop declared that the passage of this Bill would be a disaster for Victoria’s health care system. And here is where the Church has unnecessarily interfered in the State. Alas this kind of interference, with the likes of the Australian Christian Lobby and other fundamentalist pro-life groups supporting the Archbishop, is unwarranted and profoundly against the principles of Australia being a secular democratic commonwealth State.
By calling into question the morality of those supporting the decriminalisation of abortion, like Greens MPs Colleen Hartland (who herself has had an abortion), Sue Pennicuik and Greg Barber, and suggesting health care was at risk is knowingly inflaming a sensitive issue. Knowing that many politicians in Victoria’s Upper House are poll driven, the Church has attempted to defeat legislation that would bring Victoria in the new century.
There is also the obvious question about the male dominated Catholic church interfering in the rights of women over their bodies.
And should the Catholic church follow through with its threats it will have to be proof positive of the church’s preparedness to interfere in the democratic will of the people through it’s public elected representatives. To not decriminalise abortion, at least, would be the real criminal act.
As an aside I wonder if the Melbourne Archbishop will be going to confessional to confess the sins of lying. The Catholic church’s representative in Melbourne knowingly lied about the measures of the legislation in order to scaremonger and inflame hatred and fear.
Filed under: Rants & Raves | Tagged: abortion, ALP, Australia, Australian Christian Lobby, Church, Colleen Hartland, decriminalisation, fundamentalists, Greg Barber, human rights, Liberals, politics, pro-choice, state, Sue Pennicuik, Victoria, Victorian Government, Victorian Greens, Victorian Parliament, women's rights
