Other members have contended that this law will increase the rate of abortion. This premise is put without any evidence whatsoever. This is based on a personal assessment and not on any experience or empirical evidence. On the contrary, the Victorian Law Reform Commission found no evidence whatsoever that abortion laws affect the rate of abortion. – Maxine Morand (pictured), Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development and sponsor of the Victorian Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008, Hansard Sept 2008 p. 3473

Seven News has reported that late term abortions at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital have jumped from one per fortnight to an alarming three per week since Victorian politicians decriminalised abortion in October 2008.

In the story which aired last month, presenter Jennifer Keyte said “midwives and doctors feel traumatised” by having to perform so many and are unhappy that other hospitals were not equipped or refused to perform late term abortion.
Journalist Louise Milligan said: “The abortion is almost always requested because the baby will die anyway or has a devastating disability.”

However, it is strange that such a sharp rise in demand for aborting babies with lethal foetal abnormalities or ‘devastating disability’ has coincided with the change in law.

Or could it be that disabled babies previously allowed to live are now having their lives ended?

And how do we know that what the hospital calls a ‘devastating disability’ is not a misdiagnosis or a non-life threatening or correctible condition?

Queensland Senator Claire Moore told a Senate Inquiry in 2008 that Medicare funding for late term abortion was needed so that babies with a severe disability did not become a burden on the disability services budget.

Moore’s unguarded submission, made on behalf of 41Senators and Members of Parliament, revealed that many abortion advocates see abortion as a form of eugenics.

Milligan said the liberalisation of abortion laws had led to “alarming” requests for abortion.

“A family asked to terminate because the baby had a hare lip. The woman was 32 weeks pregnant.”

ACL hopes requests like this are denied by doctors but under the new law unborn babies can have their lives terminated for any reason up to 24 weeks and after this for any reason as long as two doctors consent.

It is interesting that Dr Lachlan De Crespigny makes an appearance in the news story defending late term abortion.
It was his ending of the life of a 32-week unborn baby girl with suspected dwarfism in 2000 which was used as a lever for the Victorian law change.

While ACL is opposed to abortion at any stage of pregnancy, the Seven News revelations expose the folly of the Victoria’s open slather abortion laws which have no checks and balances or protection for any unborn babies - especially those whose only crime is to have a disability.

Australian Christian Lobby
Canberra, Australia

Tel: (02) 6259 0431

Fax: (02) 6259 0462

Mob: 0448 602 878

www.acl.org.au