Surgical Abortion [0]
Medical Abortion [0]
Delayed Presentation for Abortion [0]
Counselling [0]
Public Opinion [0]
Religion and Choice [0]
Australian Law [0]
Australian Service Provision [0]
Conscientious Objection [0]
Abortion Rates [0]
Contraception [0]
Victorian Law Reform Commission Inquiry [0]
Victorian Parliamentary Vote [0]

Better Health Channel website [1].

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist has prepared a resource document for health professionals, summarising current medical evidence and reference material about methods of termination of pregnancy prior to 20 weeks gestation. The Termination of Pregnancy publication can be downloaded from the RANZCOG website [2].

RU486 (Mifepristone): a factual guide to the Australian debate [3] (.pdf document 1.12MB).

In the absence of RU486, an alternative method available for Australian women to procure a medical abortion is using a methotrexate-misoprostol regimen. For more information on medical abortion using methotrexate, visit Marie Stopes International [4].

Termination of Pregnancy Post 20 Weeks Background Paper [5] (.pdf document 65 KB).

Denying the tiny numbers of women who wish to terminate at later stages of gestation access to the procedure is not a recipe for happy families, but for distressed and disturbed women and at risk children. Currently, in Western Australia , women requesting termination past 20 weeks are referred to a committee, which either grants their request, or denies them access to the procedure. The results of this regimen, according to an official report on the workings of the law, have been: 

• women and couples feeling pressured to make a quick rather than considered decision when a negative fetal diagnosis occurred just prior to 20 weeks lest they lose control after 20 weeks of the choice.
• women and couples feeling pressured to terminate even in the face of medical advice to "wait and see" for fear of being denied a termination by the panel after 20 weeks if the fetal diagnosis remained poor.
• women and couples feeling    a diminished sense of personal control in making important life decisions
• women/couples who are denied a termination feeling unique issues of guilt and grief associated with being compelled to continue a pregnancy but having conflicted feelings about using counselling services to resolve such issues at the institution that denied them the abortion 
• women/couples and medical professionals feeling    concerned about the objectivity of the panel decision and of having their choice judged by its unknown members
• experts caring for women/couples expressing concern about the risk of self-harm and failure to bond with the baby faced by women denied an abortion. 

Read the Western Australia Department of Health and Department of Justice's Review of the Amendments [6] (.pdf document 369 KB).

Concern about compelling women to give birth to unwanted children appear justified. The literature documents the high costs to women and children born after a request for abortion was made and was denied. For a summary of these risks see When Pregnancies are Unwanted [7] by Nancy Felipe Russo and Henry P. David.

Termination of Pregnancy: a resource for health professionals [8] (.pdf document 193 KB).

For a summary of the extensive research findings in the area of mental health and abortion see Abortion, Informed Consent, and Mental Health [9]by Nancy Felipe Russo and Lisa Rubin. A summary of the scientific research in this area can also be found in an article on post-abortion issue on the National Abortion Federation website. [10]

Counselling should never be mandatory. Pregnancy counselling, like other forms of counselling, is ineffective unless the patient wants the service. Compelling a woman or couple who are clear about her/their decision to undergo counselling undermines her/their dignity and is a waste of tax-payer resources.

For more information, read Marie Stopes International's study What Women Want When Faced With an Unplanned Pregnancy [11].

For information on what an unbiased pregnancy counselling service provides visit Children By Choice [12].

Women's Health Victoria's submission to the VLRC [13] (.pdf document 1.12MB).

Further information can be found in the Australian Reproduction Health Alliance's report What do Australians Think About Abortion [14] (.pdf document 291 KB).

You can also download a detailed article on opinion trends on abortion in Australia by academic Katharine Betts: Attitudes to Abortion in Australia: 1972- 2003 [15] (.pdf document 147 KB).

US Freedom from Religion Foundation [16] lists Christian denominations and religious groups that agree abortion is not condemned in the Bible and should be legal:

• American Ethical Union
• American Friends (Quaker) Service Committee
• American Jewish Congress
• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Episcopal Church
• Lutheran Women's Caucus
• Moravian Church in America-Northern Province
• Presbyterian Church ( USA )
• Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Union of American Hebrew Congregations
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• United Church of Christ
• United Methodist Church
• United Synagogue of America
• Women's Caucus Church of the Brethren
• Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
• Catholics for Free Choice
• Evangelicals for Choice
• American Ethical Union
• American Friends (Quaker) Service Committee
• American Jewish Congress
• Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Episcopal Church
• Lutheran Women's Caucus
• Moravian Church in America-Northern Province
• Presbyterian Church ( USA )
• Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Union of American Hebrew Congregations
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• United Church of Christ
• United Methodist Church
• United Synagogue of America
• Women's Caucus Church of the Brethren
• Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
• Catholics for Free Choice
• Evangelicals for Choice

The Centre for Reproductive Rights has written a report on the perspective of abortion adopted by Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, Religious Voices Worldwide [17] (.pdf document 119 KB).

A summary of the attitudes and beliefs of seven faith groups can be found on the UK Family Planning Association's fact sheet on Religion, contraception and abortion [18] (.pdf document 454 KB).

It is a myth that the Bible forbids abortion. It is largely silent on the matter, and what it does say is open to interpretation. Read further discussions of this issue by Steve Kangas [19] and the Skeptic [20].

Until Pope Pius IX's 1869 decree, the Catholic Church held that the fetus was not a person, and abortion not homicide until later in pregnancy. Stephen T Asma has written a detailed history of the Catholic position on abortion, Abortion and the embarrassing saint [21].

Read the New York Times review of the book No Turning Back [22]. This is an inspiring story of American women Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey, two Sisters of Notre Dame, who argued publicly that conscientious Roman Catholics could dissent from the Church's teaching against abortion.

Some Catholics affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make sound decisions about their reproductive lives. Read about Catholics for Choice and Abortion [23]. For further information, see the website of Catholics for a Free Choice [24].

While nearly all pro-life advocates are religious, the majority of religious people support choice. For instance, the 2003 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes found that 77% of Australians with religious views support a woman's right to choose. Further information can be found in the Australian Reproduction Health Alliance's report What do Australians Think About Abortion [25] (.pdf document 291 KB).

In 2008, The Melbourne Anglican Church put a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission supporting the "...provision of safe and affordable abortions with appropriate safeguards for women who, for whatever reasons, request them." Read the Submission from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne [26].

The Law of Abortion [27] (.pdf document 99 KB).

A summary of abortion laws can be found on the The Children by Choice website [28].

The ACT has the most progressive law in the country. In 2002 they repealed the statutory and common law offences of abortion, and the procedure is now regulated in the Health Act. There is no evidence that any increase in demand for abortion at any stage of gestation has occurred.

In contrast, law reform in WA in 1998 has had less positive outcomes. The law is unnecessarily confusing prior to 20 weeks gestation, and after 20 weeks gestation access for termination is complex, requiring each woman's case to be evaluated by a faceless committee. Documented problems with the regime include women feeling pressured to make a quick rather than considered decision after a negative fetal diagnosis when the pregnancy is less than 20 weeks, and of women failing to bond with babies they were compelled to deliver after being denied abortion by the committee. Read the Department of Health and Department of Justice's Review of the Amendments [29] (.pdf document 369 KB).

Children by Choice [30], reviewed service provisions in 2007 for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics, Abortion Services in Victoria [31].

For basic information on service provision in Victoria, including costs visit the Victorian Government's Better Health Channel website [32]..

Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice [33].

Induced abortion: estimated rates and trends worldwide [34] (.pdf document 149 KB).

A study published in The European Journal of Public Health 2001 also found that in the countries observed decriminalisation had no observed effect on the trends in abortion. See the study's abstract [35].

In March 2008, the Council of Europe invited all member states to decriminalise abortion on the grounds that "A ban on abortions does not result in fewer abortions, but mainly leads to clandestine abortions, which are more traumatic and more dangerous". See their full report Access to safe and legal abortion in Europe [36] (.pdf document 123 KB).

It is difficult to estimate accurately the number of abortions performed in Australia. Using statistics acquired from the Medicare benefits schedule item referring to management of second-trimester labour is not an accurate estimation as it is not possible to differentiate between induced abortion and miscarriage.

Some details of abortion rates can be found on The Australian Reproductive Health Alliance fact sheet Abortion in Australia [37] (.pdf document 60KB).

Further discussion on the issue of abortion statistics can be found at The Parliamentary Library paper How many abortions are there in Australia? [38].

Unsafe Abortion [39] (.pdf document 1.222 MB).

Further information on contraceptive options can be found at Family Planning Victoria [40] and Marie Stopes International [41].

VLRC website [42].

A selection of submissions are listed below:

• Women's Health Victoria [43]

• Melbourne Anglican Church [44].
• Reproductive Choice Australia [45]
• Liberty Victoria [46]
• YWCA Victoria [47]
• Children by Choice [48]
• Association for the Legal Right to Abortion (ALRA) [49]
• Lachlan de Crespigny [49]

Australian Parliament House website [50].

For a copy of the bill and explanatory memorandum of the bill Minister Maxine Morand presented to parliament on 19 August 2008, Click to see a copy of the Bill [50] and Click to see a copy of the explanatory memorandum [50]


Here are some replies to correspondence sent by MPs during the debate to some of our supporters.

Jaala Pulford [51] Member for Western Victoria
John Lenders [52] Member for Southern Metropolitan Region
Wendy Lovell [53] Member for Northern Victoria Region
Kaye Darveniza [54] Member for Northern Victoria
Dan O'Brien [55] Office of the Premier
Craig Ingram [56] Member for Gippsland East
Bill Sykes [57] Member for Benalla
Philip Davis [58] Member for Eastern Victoria