Abortion
I am extremely proud to be a member of the Australian Labor Party. A party that is committed to pricing carbon, that is increasing superannuation, and that will soon introduce Australia’s first National Disability Scheme.
I was proud when we started building the Education Revolution, apologised to our Indigenous brothers and sisters for the pain and suffering that previous Government’s have subjected them to, and when we introduced paid maternity leave.
November 24, 2007 was the day I will always remember as the day the people of Australia voted against inequality in the work place and, for as long as I live and breathe, I will fight against any party that tries to remove Australians’ rights at work. I am also pro-life.
Continue reading "I’m Labor, I’m pro-life and I’m no political hypocrite" »
Labor for Life may sound like a North Korean punishment but it is, in fact, a fringe group that apparently departs quite radically from Labor policy.
They want to see an ‘end’ to abortion, a position which is closer to that of the Australian Christian Lobby (the ACL has endorsed them in a newsletter) than those of the Liberal or Labor Party.
On their Facebook site, they take what could be a sly dig at Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s view that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” with links to a poster that reads: “Anti-abolitionists of the 19th Century said they just wanted to keep slavery ‘safe, legal and rare’.”
Continue reading "Beware the pro-lifers doing hard Labor on abortion" »
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Chris Saidou says:
For Teli who wrote: “Therefore, I use condoms as contraception. ” Answer - abstain from sex; you would be irresponsible to continue as you describe and respectfully, sex outside committed, ‘married’ love is destructive as you may come to understand. You should also be abstaining until you solve your medical… Read more »
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Paul Panda says:
When you make the choice to abort there are only 4 possible options with whatever it is that is it is that’s inside a woman’s womb: 1. It is a life and you DON”T know it. 2. It is a life and you DO know it. 3. It is NOT… Read more »
When I was pregnant with my second child, the 19 week ultrasound brought potentially devastating news. Our child had a growth on the lung which could kill them. At that stage, doctors were unsure what would happen.
The growth could get bigger, squashing internal organs and killing the baby. If that happened, they could induce the baby at about 26 weeks so doctors could try to operate. Or it may not grow any bigger and the baby could have it removed after birth.
News that a couple had the wrong twin aborted at 32 weeks when one was diagnosed with a serious heart defect brought these memories flooding back. This poor couple ended up losing both children, which is horrific for all involved.
Continue reading "Sometimes, you’ve just got to go with your gut instinct" »
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Mikko says:
kyzz, you mean all their mums had German measles? What an amazing coincidence. You forgot Hitler? Read more »
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Tanya says:
@ Watching, I am late writing this but felt the need to do so. I don’t agree, nor do I think the ‘pro-choice’ lobby is relevant in any way to this discussion. Doctors issue advice based on medical precedents in this case, the number of babies born with this condition… Read more »
Welcome to the second day of the Punch Festival of Obvious Ideas, our salute to stuff that should be said. Here, we have a look at why we need to force some politicians to earlier elections - and no, it’s not about who you think.
Babies torn apart then pieced back together, or left on a shelf to die. A cover up of mass medication in the water, poisoning us all. Random drug tests for kids.
Welcome to the weird world of Upper House MLC Ann Bressington.
Ms Bressington, who only got 32 primary votes but surfed into the SA Parliament on the ever-popular Nick Xenophon’s coattails. Ms Bressington, who set out on an anti-drugs platform but quickly became a one-woman lightning rod for paranoid conspiracy theorists.
Continue reading "Festival of Obvious Ideas #3: Slash Parliamentary terms" »
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Paul Darwen says:
Why not just abolish the upper house, like Queensland did back in 1921. Read more »
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Marius says:
What truth might that be? Are there any imaginary deities involved? Read more »
When a friend told me I was mentioned in The Punch, I looked forward to reading the article because I associated The Punch with Punch, the British weekly magazine of humour. Instead of wit, I found the article by Tanja Kovac in The Punch yet another inaccurate diatribe against pro-lifers.
Tanja asks where are Archbishop Hart, Margaret Tighe and Babette Francis? Archbishop Hart is very possibly on his knees praying for you and for the many social welfare agencies of his Archdiocese.
Tanja, just look up the phone book under “Catholic” and you will see the long list of activities undertaken by the Catholic Church to help those in need. Ever heard of “The Vinnies” (the St. Vincent de Paul Society)? Or Mother Teresa’s “Missionaries of Charity”? As for Margaret Tighe, like me she is probably working at a computer replying to tiresome articles from those who don’t bother to get their facts straight.
Continue reading "Pro-lifers: we’re self-funded and we don’t discriminate" »
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Bob says:
In response to the article: I don’t necessarily disagree with the comments regarding choice and child-care payments (though I think the design is favoured towards people who work as that’s what it is supposed to be encouraging). As for the comments about how nice and lovely and supportive pro-lifers are… Read more »
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ZennoPoster says:
ZennoPoster - Speaking shortly its a tool which lets complete coding noobs make really complicated bots that will make their life easier. For start you have to understand even tho Zennoposter doesnt need any programming knowledge you will need to take a bit of time to learn it. ZennoPoster ?-… Read more »
Most people agree that we, as a society, want to decrease the number of abortions.
Like any grand statement, the means to getting to this end will be the judge of our seriousness and principles.
Tory Shepherd is right to point out our goals cannot be achieved through “guilt, hate and fear mongering”.
Continue reading "The abortion debate has gone beyond slogans" »
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Anne Stocks says:
I did not conceive Miraculously it was through having sex strange that don’t you think? and I was not Married even stranger don’t you agree ? As for standing against Abortion for unborn Babies, it’s very True what Tim Cannon shared which was .... There’s nothing medieval about it. It’s… Read more »
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kris says:
I cannot speak to anyone else’s experiences but my own. I had a wonderfully fulfilling and satisfying period of my life when I only had ‘casual’ sex. I never had a pregnancy or disease. I have since been married, happily and faithfully, for 15 years and have had two children.… Read more »
The Australian Family Association responds to Tory Shepherd’s Punch column on abortion.
Ah pro-choice warriors, methinks thou dost protest too much.
The sheer passion and vigour with which you attack anyone who gives off even the vaguest whiff of pro-life sentiment casts doubt upon the substance of your convictions.
Shout those evil medievalists down! Throw names, mud, whatever – just make sure you get ‘em good!
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Anne Stocks says:
Sorry Correction Thank you Tim Cannon for your stand for unborn Babies and it’s very True what you shared which was .... There’s nothing medieval about it. It’s just human Compassion, plain and simple. I agree and that Compassion comes from God and His great Love for all Manking even… Read more »
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Anne Stocks says:
Thank you Tim Cannon for your stand for unborn Babies and it’s very True what you shared which was .... There’s nothing medieval about it. It’s just human Compassion, plain and simple. I agree and that Compassion comes from God and His great Love for all Manking even those of… Read more »
All those people who think sex is just about procreation must be doing it wrong.
Every time a conservative talks about outlawing abortion, or making terminations harder to get, the background message is that sex is dirty and evil and the sinners must bear the consequences.
Because they are never simultaneously arguing for better sex education, or improved access to contraception. They either ignore how the pregnancy happened in the first place, or talk about abstinence.
That this medieval Catholic view of the world persists is startling.
Continue reading "Sex education + contraception = fewer abortions" »
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WriTbal says:
Quality essays and research papers - we offer only the best writers of , that provides a absolute great results thesis. Recommended Reading - buy research paper contact our on-line quality ensure! BombaWriting.Com non-plagiarized term papers Read more »
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Twiggy says:
IMHO you’ve got the right awnser! Read more »
(Eds note: Peter Michael covered the Queensland abortion trial for the Courier-Mail)
It was like a morning after pill. That’s what Tegan said. That’s how they do birth control in Russia.
Except by the time she took them – five tiny pills over 48 hours – she estimated herself to be about five weeks pregnant. “I woke up with a period the next day. And other than that I was fine,’’ she told police brightly, in explanation.
It begs that hoary chestnut: When does life start? When sperm meets egg? When there is a heartbeat? When newborn child emerges from womb and opens eyes and lungs to the world? It does not matter. Not in this case.
Continue reading "This abortion trial should never be repeated" »
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Zednik says:
That’s a given Paul, but for a state to only make one significant social change in 150 years doesn’t say much for its standards of governence. Read more »
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Kika says:
Another attitude which has helped with this is the blase attitude most young men have towards relationships. I don’t know whether this is the result of feminism, I’d say most likely yes, but because women have relaxed their attitudes towards their relationships with men, men don’t have to try so… Read more »
The first story I covered as a court reporter was about the point at which life begins. It was a big question for the tiny Moe Magistrates’ Court. The year was 1989.
Every Friday night, one of the local lads would throw a sex party. One night his heavily pregnant girlfriend objected, so he punched her repeatedly in the stomach.
The eight-month-old foetus didn’t survive.
Continue reading "Baby Zoe: why can’t a foetus be a victim of crime?" »
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AlsoDave says:
The problem with the idea of ‘viability’ is this line in the sand is constantly changing. 30 years ago, a foetus was viable in the mid to late 20s (weeks). A decade ago it was 24-25 weeks. Now there are babies being saved at 22 weeks. While it’s a nice… Read more »
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Helen says:
That’s why I’m expecting the forced-birthers to go in hard on this story and I hope family planning / pro choice organisations will go in just as hard to prevent any kneejerk legislation (which I fully expect to be brought by Fred Nile, Tony Abbott or someone similar, if it… Read more »
Angie Jackson, otherwise known as Angie the Anti-Theist, looks defiant in her latest Youtube video.
In case you don’t know Angie, she rocketed to fame a few weeks ago when she had an abortion live online. She twittered it. This week she went online again, to defend her decision – both to abort and to broadcast – in the wake of the backlash.
In the original video, she says: “I’m having an abortion… right now. It’s not that bad, it’s not that scary… I’m at peace with my decision.” “It’s just not that bad.”
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Anne Stocks says:
Dear Tory Shepherd I don’t know if you have Children or if you have had an Abortion it’s hard to form a correct opinion if you haven’t and we know Statists can be in error because they target those who add support to that which they are trying to promote.… Read more »
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Eleanor says:
My apologies Helen, I’ve since come into work and it shows that you were in fact, quoting Disgusted. For some reason, the quoted text did not show up as italics. Instead, please re-direct my tirade to Disgusted. Read more »
Dear Trevor Grace,
I write to commend you on your candidacy in the upcoming SA state election.
For too long, our government has been a slave to the neo-leftist, baby hating and quite frankly DISGUSTING collection of man-hating feminists intent on destroying every beautiful soul chosen by God to populate this green planet. And I say green because as you so rightly hint at on your website, climate change is nothing but a LIE perpetuated by beardy-weirdies intent on taxing the hard working because their own laziness and pursuit of the ARTS means they can neither afford air-conditioning nor a house to put it in.
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Sim says:
Sean, I think you’re attempting to put words into my mouth and manipulate me into feeling guilty for having thoughts of my own that have not been pumped into me by religious institutions. I never said that I thought it was okay that people were taking the posters down, so… Read more »
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Susan says:
This is the funniest letter i’ve read - well done Read more »
I often ask myself why I am pro-choice, why I feel it is ok for a woman to terminate a living, growing being that is inside her, yet I am inherently against murder, against capital punishment and the right of the state to take away the life of another.
I toss the arguments over and over in my mind, trying to find the loophole that will confirm I am not a hypocrite, that my thoughts and feelings stem from solid reason, not from emotion and sentiment.
It is still difficult for me to put my finger on exactly why I feel that murder, by person or by state, is heinous, yet think that abortion should be legal, and is acceptable.
Continue reading "Choosing what is life in the abortion debate" »
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Steph says:
Abortion is a weak word. A more suitable word is Murder as that is what it is - the murder of a human being. What’s worse is that it is the murder of an innocent child by it’s mother - the mother whose very nature is to love and protect… Read more »
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RosalindaROSARIO27 says:
I took my first loans when I was 32 and that supported my business a lot. However, I require the short term loan over again. Read more »
We have seen the issue of Abortion raised a great deal in Australian Politics recently, from the RU486 debates of the previous federal government, to last year’s changes to laws in Victoria and more recently, the trial in Queensland of Tegan Leach and Sergie Brennan for purchasing abortion drugs from overseas.
As a young woman, my opinion on the issue of Abortion often brings me a great deal of ridicule.
I have been labeled Anti-women and more interestingly “Pro-Life Scum”. I’ve also have been singled out and bullied and attacked by left-wing ‘feminazi’s’ at political forums (sorry? Human rights?).
Continue reading "It’s not easy being young and anti-abortion" »
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rossau says:
I would love to. But equally the Better Court made the decision yesterday that Fred Phelps and also the Westboro Baptist Church possess a right to help protest with soldiers’ funerals, this thread will remain open to all comments with medical medical marijuana, and tangential difficulties. Feel liberal to ignore… Read more »
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Eageneals says:
desired like Phony provide linked could sued exactly mixture supply possible would creative UVB focus Furthermore mass supermarket different towards expect prescribed produced 12 choices different combination don’t stylish UVA think promises utilizing superior authenticity dull lines sued provided about addition true metal not promises promises Furthermore that supermarket prescribed… Read more »
Tegan Leach has become the unwitting “it” girl for abortion reform in Queensland. Unwitting, because who would have knowingly decided to sign up for the sort of exposure that has been thrust on this Cairns teenager, all because she made a choice thousands of women have made before her to abort a baby she knew she was not ready to care for.
However, the charge she faces is that she allegedly did not do it through the proper channels.
Tegan is expected to sell her story exclusively to a women’s magazine when the dust has finally settled on this case and she is legally able to speak freely outside of court, for hers is a case that has opened a hornet’s nest of debate about the rights or wrongs of do-it-yourself drug-induced abortions in Australia and women’s ability to access them.
Continue reading "The story that has put abortion back in the dock" »
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Elle says:
Then why are they not being prosecuted under drug importation laws? Abortion is most definatley on trial here. She is being charged with procuring an illegal abortion. Read more »
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Eliza Turnbull says:
The case isn’t about the importation of drugs - if it was, the accused would be facing drug-related charges. They are facing charges for procuring an abortion and assisting to procure an abortion. Read more »
A quick flick through some of the side effects of RU-486 makes for sober reading. These range from stomach cramps, through nausea, vomiting to ectopic pregnancies and severe internal bleeding.
Quite clearly, it is a serious drug that should be treated with some caution and strictly only under medical supervision.
If RU-486 weren’t an abortion drug there wouldn’t be any controversy. No-one would question the prosecution of two people for procuring and administering another pharmaceutical with side effects as serious as those of RU-486. But it was never about the drug. It was about access to abortion.
Continue reading "Abortion drugs are dangerous, just think about it" »
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Eleanor says:
I believe the question of when life starts is irrelevant. I would still support a woman’s choice to abort a late term pregnancy if she thought it was the best course of action. I would also advocate that it be free, and easy to access. Read more »
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Elle says:
She most certainly did get it. There is a difference between a woman interacting with her own body, and someone else interacting with her body. In the case of a woman seeking abortion, she has made a decision about her body and her life. In the case where a baby… Read more »
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.
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.
Continue reading "Bligh is a hypocrite on Queensland abortion law" »
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Anne Stocks says:
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… Read more »
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Jesse says:
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… Read more »
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From: Punch on: Open thread 09/02/2012
marley says:
I'm one of the older ones, so I've certainly seen a few changes in my time. When I started school I learned to write with a nib pen, dipped in an inkwell (no, I'm not kidding). My mother became a dab hand at getting inkstains out of my clothes. Flicking ink at one another in the classroom was an essential… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
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