In Cairns, a young Queensland woman faces the prospect of up to seven years prison for something that over 14 000 women do every year in this state alone - for having an abortion. Her partner faces three years prison for assisting her.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh


Once-was-feminist-campaigner and now Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh is at pains to try and convince us that the charges are not related to abortion, but rather to do with the way in which the abortion took place.

Premier Bligh has feigned concern about the case – “tragic” she calls it. The Premier is a hypocrite. Her government could act immediately to bring an end to the trauma that this young couple is facing. But not only have they refused to act – they have done everything they can to further add to the isolation of the young couple.

Let’s dispense with some of the misinformation.

Queensland Government ministers have repeatedly told the media that the case is related to the illegal importation of the drug allegedly used for the abortion. During the committal hearing, the Cairns Magistrates Court heard that the drug had been bought in through customs. It wasn’t stopped at customs because it is not a banned substance in Australia.

Premier Bligh has implied that the case is based on the safety concerns related to the drug being taken without medical supervision. There has been a great deal of misinformation and scaremongering about RU486. The fact is that the drug is very safe - the complications that can arise are similar to that of a spontaneous miscarriage.

The young woman had full instructions about the use of the drug. She had strong support from her partner and family and would have had access to medical facilities if complications had arisen – the same as anyone who has RU486 prescribed.

Premier Bligh’s feigned concern about women’s safety highlights her hypocrisy. She would be only too aware that criminalising abortion is one of the greatest dangers to women’s health. The Premier knows that the only way to ensure women’s safe access to abortion is to make it legal and free and have widespread woman-centered information and education services.

There has been much hand-wringing in the media by commentators who have argued that if the abortion had been had via the “normal” channels the couple would not be facing this ordeal. This blame-the-victim mentality is sickening, especially when it is being peddled by those who ostensibly support abortion rights.

Abortion is not easy to access – especially for young women in rural and regional areas. There is scant information available about abortion services.

There are the extraordinary costs – some abortion services in Cairns can cost upward of $800. There is the social stigma that society continues to impose on women who choose abortion – a very strong factor in a small town.

It is true that abortion is legally accessible – but let’s get the facts straight. Abortion is accessible under a common law ruling in 1986 that found that there were grounds for “lawful” abortion – when a woman’s life or mental health is at risk by continuing a pregnancy. This ruling was however explicitly against “abortion on demand”.
 
But abortion has effectively been available on demand through private clinics. Most people are not even aware that abortion is still subject to criminal law.

While it may have faded from popular memory, there are still many who remember the widespread social and political response to the abortion clinic raids of the 1980s. Indeed it was the opposition that was mobilised in that era that led to the liberalised access that exists today.

In prosecuting the Cairns case some think the Queensland Police can create a new precedent. They have prosecuted an isolated working class couple in regional Cairns in a case that does not involve a local doctor.

The Cairns case is based on the thoroughly reactionary nature of the anti-abortion laws. The young Cairns woman has been charged under section 225 of the Queensland Criminal Code which reads:

“Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years”.

Read the above carefully and then read it again. In the Cairns Committal hearing the police prosecution argued that it didn’t even matter that there was no proof that the woman was pregnant – because they argued that under the law a woman is “guilty of a crime” if she does anything “with intent to procure her own miscarriage” even if she is not actually pregnant at the time.

Abortion rights campaigners have argued for decades that the anti-abortion laws pose an ever present threat to abortion access. Our so-called friends in parliament have told us not to worry – that the laws are a dead letter and that we shouldn’t rock the boat.

Now the boat has been rocked by the Cairns case and a young couple are paying a high price for the unwillingness of Bligh and friends to stand up to the anti-abortion forces.

Many expected more from Bligh. 

Bligh has deservedly become the target of the very protest movement which gave her a step-up into politics. This protest movement is determined to make it politically untenable for the government to maintain their position of inaction – the charges against the Cairns couple must be dropped immediately.

This time we will settle for nothing less than free, safe and accessible abortion on demand. No-one should ever again have to face the trauma of the young couple in Cairns are facing – for making a decision that is every woman’s right to choose.

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41 comments

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    • Wayne says:

      08:15am | 28/09/09

      Maybe Bligh want’s to bring back the long knives. I remember when I was a kid this young lady living up the road tried to perform her own abortion with a long knife. She near died. Bligh doesn’t give a flying fu** for public opinion or common sense for that matter. Just have a look at public opinion on how she runs the great State of Queensland. Stuffed it! What she has clearly forgotten is that she is their to do the bidding of the people. This is not an “Anna Knows Best” scenario. If enough people voice their views to Anna then she must act. I can’t believe that the police are following through with this. They must have plenty of free time on their hands.

    • Concerned says:

      09:09am | 28/09/09

      Everyone always forgets about the baby’s right. And their right - the right to live - is number one on the universal declaration of Human Rights.

    • Voxpop says:

      09:33am | 28/09/09

      Agree 100%
      So sad that women are still fighting for their rights in this area that was supposedly resolved so long ago.
      Keep applying the pressure to the decision makers and stop this disgusting witch hunt.
      Sadly the nut jobs that want to control women so thoroughly have already stooped so low as to throw a molotov at their house.  The reckless abuse, vandalism and harm that these morally devoid zealots inflict on others is far more criminal and I hope they are the ones to be convicted.

    • i.h.m.n says:

      09:36am | 28/09/09

      @Concerned

      And what of a woman’s rights? Or is she only afforded the right to be an incubator?

    • Eric says:

      10:06am | 28/09/09

      Women have rights to abort an unwanted child—but men have no similar right to avoid being forced into unwanted parenthood.

      It’s time men had a choice too.

    • Rachel says:

      10:43am | 28/09/09

      Eric, men do have a choice. Abstain or wear a condom.

    • Gibbot says:

      10:47am | 28/09/09

      How does this affect you, Eric? With your constant whining attitude to women it’s hardly likely you’ll be getting a leg over any time this century.

      @Concerned - human rights exist for actual humans, not potential humans.

    • Voxpop says:

      10:48am | 28/09/09

      Eric try using a condom or vasectomy…
      But really I do agree that men shouldn’t be forced into being a father simply because a woman has fallen pregnant after they’ve had sex.  Same as the woman shouldn’t be forced into being a mother…
      So Eric where do you stand on abortion?

    • Eric says:

      10:56am | 28/09/09

      Rachel, women have a choice too. Abstain or use contraception. Funny how that works—your own argument can be used to deny abortion rights.

      Voxpop, I could likewise tell you that women could try using the Pill or an IUD, and then they wouldn’t need abortions. That cuts both ways.

      My own stand on abortion? I don’t lean strongly one way or the other. My chief concern is that rights should be balanced between men and women—either choice for both, or choice for neither. To me, that’s the important issue.

    • PipSqueak says:

      11:18am | 28/09/09

      It is fanciful and unhelpful to suggest that laws be changed to enable a man to force a woman to abort a foetus that he doesn’t want (regardless of whether she wants it).
      It is just as fanciful to suggest that a woman should be able to force a man to undergo a medical procedure operation (say, a vasectomy) that he doesn’t want.
      I appreciate that a ‘‘father’ should also have a choice - but perhaps, more practically, the choice can be applied at the monetary support and even the legal ownership (by way of birth certificate) part of the situation.
      I am pro-choice for men and women but I am hoping for a practical discussion of possible solutions rather than throwing hand-grenades to inflame the debate.

    • Voxpop says:

      11:20am | 28/09/09

      Sure it cuts both ways but in my experience I’ve always had to be the one to ‘provide’ the contraceptive.  With most men just believing it’s the woman’s responsibilty but then crying foul when it doesn’t go their way - sorry but you need to be proactive if you don’t want that result.
      Contraceptives are not 100% effective and a huge amount of women (the majority) that do get an abortion were already on the pill or IUD etc.  So to me this shows their clear intention to avoid getting pregnant in the first place - abortion is just out of necessity when the contraceptive fails.  Of course there are other reasons - medical necessity be it danger to the woman or unviable foetus.
      I already stated that I don’t agree that a man should be made to support the woman to keep a baby that he doesn’t want.  But how can denying women rights to abortion get you the rights you seek - it’s hypocritical.

    • i.h.m.n says:

      11:50am | 28/09/09

      I agree with Voxpop that a man should have a choice not to support a child he does not want, to a degree.

      If you are in a relationship, you should know what your partners (male or female) beliefs and feelings are towards abortion and unwanted pregnancy, therefore you are making a choice to sleep with someone knowing in advance what they will do should your contraception fail, or you fail to use any.

      And if you are engaging in casual sex, you risk not knowing their ideas beforehand.

      After the fact the sexes are affected in very different ways. Females have to give birth and raise a child or give birth and give it away, that is their choice because it affects them physically. Males will be affected financially, but may never have anything to do with the everyday work of looking after them, which again is a females physical responsibility.

      How can we all have the same choices when the choices we have to make are so different from one another?

      What is the solution? I do not think that to say that men can choose whether or not to pay child support in all cases is equal to saying women can choose whether or not to have a baby.

    • Barb says:

      12:11pm | 28/09/09

      What a disgrace - it’s the 21st Century and some people still think that women need to abort perfectly healthy babies so that they can fulfil their desire to travel , shop, and pay taxes. Mothers out there please explain to these demented feminists that being a parent is all that matters and no one gives a toss about “career” women. The way these feminists behave, you’d think we were still in the dark ages and never had the enlightenment - abortion is the closest thing we have to the dark ages in contemporary society.

    • Little Miss Sci Fi says:

      12:17pm | 28/09/09

      @Rachel @Gibbot @voxpop - Agree 100%

    • i.h.m.n says:

      12:22pm | 28/09/09

      @Barb
      As a “demented feminist”, I take exception to your assumption that people are having abortions because they are just like totally too busy partying to have a baby.

      Rape, financial problems, and how about I DON’T WANT TO BE A MUM?

      And if I don’t want to be a mum, how likely is it that ,should I be forced to become one, I will be very good at it? I resent the fact that you have just tried to shove your beliefs onto the rest of the female population and ask that you stop treating me as an incubator first, person second.

    • i.h.m.n says:

      12:23pm | 28/09/09

      And also Barb, I have nothing but happiness for the fact that you are an obviously happy and dedicated mother I simply resent the fact you assume us all the same.

    • Voxpop says:

      12:23pm | 28/09/09

      Yes i.h.m.n - I agree

      It begs belief that 2 people who engage in sex and everything else that goes along with whatever relationship they’ve had cannot be prepared for and have mutaul respect for one another when something like this happens.

      Certainly in every relationship I’ve had there’s been discussion and understanding of all of these issues.  But for me, being the woman carries the greater risk and consequence so I’ve always been proactive and upfront.  That’s why if I were a man and felt strongly about this I would take control of contraception myself in order to feel ‘safe’ from unwanted parenthood - It’s something I’ve just been advising my young brother about.

    • OMG says:

      12:36pm | 28/09/09

      Barb - demented feminists? are you serious?
      As a mother of three AND a ‘demented feminist’ AND a recipient of an abortion AND a traveller AND a shopper AND a tax-payer I am horrified by your comments.
      Horrified.

    • Sydney girl says:

      12:35pm | 28/09/09

      Well said Rachel, Gibbot & Voxpop!!!!
      Unfortunately, as seen in previous posts, Eric isn’t interested in men being held accountable for anything. It’s always a woman’s fault to him…
      I wonder what creates an ‘Eric’ sometimes? What made him this way?  it would be fascinating no doubt.

    • Teresa of A Caring Place says:

      12:44pm | 28/09/09

      Kathy Newman’s picture is accurate - shrieking at the end of a megaphone, her oft-seen pose.  How sad that she “champions” women’s ‘right’s’ by advocating abortion - not real support, something these women need.

      It doesn’t matter how old a law is, it is only whether that law is upholding a value society needs ie the value of human life, at all stages of development.

      There is no point that we “become human” - we always are - humans can only create another human.  The growing child is not part of his/her mother’s body - something that is obvious if a boy baby is born, and of course, both male and female babies have different blood groups to their mother.

      An ‘enlightened’ society protects its most vulnerable - (unborn, aged, ill) - it does not kill them off when they become inconvenient.

    • pete says:

      12:48pm | 28/09/09

      This article is not about the abortion or drugs.  This item is about a hypocrityical politician who made all the “right” noises prior to becoming a politician and then after becoming a politician makes all the “right” noises, to keep her snout firmly in the trough. 

      Politics is about self interest, whether it be at party or individual level, regardless of the party.  the only politicains who appear to come close to producing what we want from politicians are the poor old independants and they dont stand a snowball’s chance in hell.

      so because anna’s supposed “principles” have withered away to young innocent lives are ruined, probably havent finished school yet.  wonder how the criminal conviction will go down with prospective employers.

      and politicians wonder why people have a low regard for them.

    • Joe says:

      01:11pm | 28/09/09

      Anna Bligh will do anything to keep her job and hold on power, no matter who suffers. Totally poll driven. There obviously isn’t the public support for a change of Abortion laws. If there was she would have done it long ago to win a few votes. Face it Kathy Newnam you are in a minority.

    • Patrick says:

      02:16pm | 28/09/09

      In relation to the choices for men, beyond the mother actually having to physically give birth to a child, why is it that her decision to have an abortion overules the fathers wishes to not have an abortion? There should be agreement from both parties.

    • peter says:

      03:05pm | 28/09/09

      Your comment:

      Let me get this right;

      This young lady faces court and the Premier who could introduce legislation to stop from this from ever happening again…....... goes on a celebrity cooking show.

    • Bern says:

      03:19pm | 28/09/09

      Gibbot there is no potential human being to talk about, conception is necessary for any human life. Conception is the beginning of human life, death is the end of human life no matter when both of these happen, inside or outside the womb.

      Lets face it we are just talking about killing the next generation of Australians, all those taxpayers.

      Do women feel so unsupported that they feel there is no other option then to kill the new life within? Premiere Bligh ought to concentrate on supporting these women young or old who find themselves facing these decisions with dignified loving supporting programmes that enable these women to find options that give the child a life.

      Killing the baby won’t end the pain or solve the mother’s problems.

    • Timothy says:

      03:42pm | 28/09/09

      Patrick, the man rightly should have no say what a woman chooses to do with her body. If the boot were on the other foot, and you were being forced to give birth to a baby you didn’t want,  I am sure you should see things differently. There is a valid logical argument however, in relation to financial support for an event that the father has no say in or control over.

    • Liz says:

      03:58pm | 28/09/09

      Is it is very easy to get an abortion in Queensland even a local North Queensland doctor was one of the first licenced to prescribe the famous abortion pill.
      We don’t need woman taking pills and having abortions at home, putting their health at risk, we need other options for our vulnerable human beings, who is speaking up for them?

    • Liz says:

      04:00pm | 28/09/09

      All the anti-abortion goers out there seem to have this somewhat contrived belief that women who choose to abort do so lightly. ‘Oh, hell. Preggers again! Off to the clinic!’ As if it’s not an emotional, daunting, scary beyond belief and even sometimes dangerous experience for the woman involved.

      Fact is, it’s not something that is taken lightly. But it needs to be available. Essentially, it’s about the freedom to choose.

      And Barb- it’s not up to you. Go have as many babies as you please and leave the rest of us alone, if you don’t mind.

    • Bern says:

      04:06pm | 28/09/09

      Timothy as a woman and a mother, I know it takes a male and female to create a new human life. If the woman has the baby without the full support of the father, there is a law that can force him to pay maintenance. So If he can pay maintenance when the baby is outside the womb, I know he has 50 % say in the future of the child while it is in the womb. We a need a law to protect the father as much as the mother of these newly created children.

    • Miki says:

      04:11pm | 28/09/09

      A couple of points:
      As the article notes, this was an informed choice by both the woman and her male partner, so Eric and co should stop creating straw arguments about the “rights” of men.

      To Teresa of A Caring Place - first, get the author’s name right - It’s Newnam not Newman. Secondly, good on Ms Newnam for picking up a megaphone and speaking out! Nothing sad about it at all.  Instead, she is an inspiration! More women should be taking page of Ms Newnam’s book and have the guts, committment and confidence to stand up to defend and extend their and other women’s rights to not only control their own bodies but for their rights in general. 

      Thirdly, Teresa, an “enlightened” society is one which finally does away with sexist attitudes - attitudes, such as yours, which use sexist stereotypes to attack woman they don’t agree with and which treat women like they are idiots, who are incapable of making informed choices about her own body.  Attitudes

      Fourthly, in my experience, a great many so-called “right-to-lifers” are hypocritical.  When you discuss the issue with them, you find out that these very same people are often supportive the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle east (eg. Israel’s January bombing of Gaza which killed over 400 children).  Suddenly, it seems in these cases, “right-to-life” is longer sacrosanct for those who think a woman should not be able to make informed choices about her own body.

    • Smith says:

      09:32pm | 28/09/09

      Vote in Labor for more good times!

    • Gibbot says:

      10:21am | 29/09/09

      @Miki - absolutely spot on. It would appear that the right to life for potential anglo-saxon children of Christian heritage is far more important than the right to life of real children who have had the misfortune of being born in unfashionable locations.

    • Joe says:

      11:19am | 29/09/09

      @Gibbot and @Miki life should be respected at all stages. No matter what country the children are in. Try not to bring racism into the debate about thousands of QLD children being aborted each year in QLD. This is the issue at hand. We need to do more to support the mothers who find themselves pregnant. Were is Bligh on this front? There are no votes to be lost by supporting mothers.

    • Timothy says:

      03:57pm | 29/09/09

      Bern, 50% is not a deciding vote.  I do not think that men should be able to dictate to a woman the outcome of her pregnancy, but I do support the idea that being a father against ones wishes should be without financial penalty. The law should not “protect” unborn children, it should protect a woman’s right to CHOICE and a man’s choice to be involved.

    • Joe says:

      04:49pm | 29/09/09

      Babies are lovely.

    • Zac B says:

      11:22pm | 29/09/09

      I agree, “Let’s dispense with some of the misinformation.” So how about you practice what you preach. RU486 is a very dangerous drug. Check out the FDA’s web site. I understand 6 deaths and a large number of women requiring blood transfusions due to chronic bleeding. Caroline De Costa is the only pusher of RU486 in Australia. She wanted to be protected by law and used the pro abortion group to hijack the cairns case to bring around law reform. I have to say I’m disgusted!! Abortion is taking life.

    • Julie McNeill says:

      10:27am | 30/09/09

      Kathy Newnam is absolutley right regarding the disappointment that many women feel about Premier Anna Bligh on her stand on this - but you have to understand that this is about votes of the socially conservative(i.e Religious wrong on both sides), and a fear that a handful of her own MP’s would cross the floor (ghosts of the DLP split still lingering).
      Its shocking to think they would go against party discipline to implement ALP party platform to decriminilise abortion…Plus the idea that only a conscience vote could be used is abhorrent to my understanding of the principle of secular governance and separation between Church and State.
      I have outlined this for my contribution to Q150 at Youtube:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWokBJFQfDQ
      And ultimatley I agree with Kathy - where is the sense of compassion and injustice - what is the point of power if you can’t release this young couple from this terrible purgatory. We’re not supposed to be living in a theocracy.

    • Mike says:

      12:13am | 02/10/09

      All life should be protected from conception to natural death. I am opposed to all killing including all wars.
      All living beings are entitled to the right to life

    • Joe says:

      03:49pm | 02/10/09

      @Julie McNeill “Its shocking to think they would go against party discipline” - give me a break. We are talking about lives here and you are shocked by a lack of party discipline?

      Its about time Labor politicians turned their minds on and thought for themselves and not just done what they are told by the bosses.

    • Jesse says:

      01:25am | 07/10/09

      Teresa, your ‘enlightened’ ‘pro-life’ views are greatly undermined when you make such ‘unenlightened’ staments as “The growing child is not part of his/her mother’s body - something that is obvious if a boy baby is born, and of course, both male and female babies have different blood groups to their mother.”

    • Anne Stocks says:

      04:04pm | 28/05/11

      Did Anna Bligh make a stand for the wrong reasons? did she feel justified in seeking to stop what has now become a Holocaust of destruction of defenceless Babies considered as people of worth in God’s eyes ? should we judge her harshly or thank her?

      Are you a Mum or Dad?  Then how blessed you are to have had a part of giving birth to your Child or Children. But what if someone had said that you can only choose one or you are better off not having a Child; it has to be terminated?  Which one would you choose, and would you willingly choose to end the life of the Child you now Love? What if you asked your Child or Children if they wished that they had been aborted instead of being born?  what would their response be, and what if you had known them as you know them now when you or your wife were pregnant?  Would you have aborted by choice?

      I have lost seven Children, one that I aborted when I was almost 15 years of age. Nobody knew except my boyfriend and the Doctor. I was too young to realise the impact this would have on my life and I was also too immature to make such a soul destroying decision, but because there was pressure I was encouraged to think it would be ok and not really matter; I could have more babies when I chose to. There seemed no other way, and it was not hard to find a willing Doctor,  a well known Macquarie Street Gynaecologist,  even though at the time Abortion was illegal,  but as you know money can buy almost anything.

      Later at 18 and in my 20s after the loss of three stillborn baby girls and 3 others at approx 4 mths pregnancy without a reason given and only to be told it’s just one of those unexplainable things, even the one that I nearly died with through Toxaemia they had no explanation why this happened,  it was in the 70’s,  perhaps today they have more understanding and would have been able to save them, I don’t know,  Medical Research has come a long way which is a gift of God when used for good purposes,  Abortion is not good it is evil and hurts a woman and also God and denies that when a baby is conceived it is a person of worth being formed by God in the womb and has the right to be born like we were.

      To murder your own Child leaves many scars that only Jesus our Lord and Saviour can heal.

      Do you think I did not look back with great sadness and wonder what if, yes there was no doubt that some damage done at the time of the Abortion which may have diminished the healthy growth of some of my babies in the womb,  even today this still happens,  sadly I never was able to hold my own Children.  I have no doubt that my Babies are in God’s hands and they have only ever known Joy and I have full assurance that I am forgiven, but much the same as King David and Paul the Apostle and many other Christians, I can never take lightly hurting God and others including my own baby, I denied her the right to be born which we all have.

      My arms have ached to hold all my babies and tell them I Love them, especially the little one I chose to kill, I call her Charmaine but she may be Charlie; I won’t know until I’m with them all in Heaven.

      ” The damage of Abortion is not just physical. “

      I use to look after a retarded women for a short time each week. She was then 25 but about 5 mentally.  Her dolls are her daughters and sons and she loves and cares for them, and to her every thing is pretty. She use to ask me regardless of the time of year to sing Away In A Manger and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her. I did this as I walked the dogs with her, actions and all.  I’m sure all my neighbours thought that I had lost it, but her smile was well worth it. This woman-child brought great Joy to me and still does to many others. Perhaps she is not as bad as some are and yes she will always need extra care, but one day you or I may need that too. Or perhaps Euthanasia will be legalised and it won’t be our choice, but someone whose focus is on the purse strings and views us as a hindrance to balancing the budget instead of a person of worth, so of course we will be expendable. Sadly when life has little value which is the real face of Abortion… then where does it end? 

      Thanking you for your time - Kind regards Anne.

 

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