Monday, October 18, 2010

No support-counselling

The Victorian parliament voted against providing support-counselling for women. [VicHansard 3536-3550]

 I don't know how things work with marriage celebrants, but in the church my husband and I were required to attend pre-marriage counselling before we got married.  Before making a choice that would affect us for the rest of our lives they wanted us to explore all the issues and think about potential problems and solutions. 


The decision to have an abortion or keep the baby or put the baby up for adoption is a choice that effects women for the rest of their lives.  As they say about marriage "it is not a decision to be entered into lightly".  Good decisions take time.  All options need to be explored and pros and cons weighed up.   Women need access to caring, informed counsellors who can explore all the options, correct misconceptions and allow the woman to make a decision she is happy with.  Remember deciding to keep the baby or put the baby up for adoption can be changed.  Once an abortion is performed there is no going back.


Notice also the wording above.  It doesn't just say counselling.  It says support counselling.  Counselling that will support the woman to make a choice that she will be able to live with, that she will not regret, that is right for her not the pushers of the pro-life or pro-choice agenda.


Do you think women deserve support-counselling? 
Then let the politicians know:
http://www.lifevote.org.au/


Next Post:The Victorian parliament voted against providing information on the health risks of abortion. [VicHansard 3629-3631]

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Abortion Law in Victoria

I will be working through this flyer point by point over the next weeks.  If you don't believe me the references are in the flyer and can be looked up on Hansard.  It's a matter of public record.

http://www.lifevote.org.au/lifevote_flyer.pdf

I will present Victorian abortion law to you and explain why I think these laws are both anti-life and anti-woman.

In October 2008, the Victorian parliament voted to make abortions legal,
right up to the day of birth.  Any woman can have an abortion for any reason up until 24 weeks gestation.  After that the procedure has to be agreed on by two doctors after taking into account the woman's medical, physical, psychological and social circumstances.

If a woman loses a baby naturally during a pregnancy this is known as a miscarriage up until 20 weeks gestation.  After 20 weeks a baby that dies in utero is termed stillborn.  A stillborn baby, that has never taken a breath, is counted as a person.  They are issued with a birth certificate stating they were stillborn.  They are counted as a birth in the births, deaths and marriages database.  A 20 week old baby that dies before birth is recognised by the Victorian government as a person.

And yet this same baby can be aborted, have it's life ended, for any reason and it is termed abortion not murder.  A baby that is viable or could survive if born is slightly more protected.  After 24 weeks a pre-term baby has a 50% chance of survival, at 27 weeks it is 80% and from 29 weeks >90%. (
http://birth.com.au/Premature-baby/Survival-of-preterm-babies-gestation.aspx?p=2).

In 2007 there were 345 late term abortions in Victoria.  49% of these were done for psychosocial reasons and the remainder were because of a genetic problem of the baby.  54 of these babies survived the abortion and went on to die post-natally. 

Since this law was introduced in 2008 the Royal Womans' Hospital as gone from performing 1 late term abortion per fortnight to 3 per week. That's a 600% increase (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AeFdCG4gEg).


1 in 4 pregnancies are ended by abortion.  One quarter of our children are being killed in the womb.  Less than 4% of abortions reported as being for medical reasons and less than 1% are because of rape.  I find these statistic horrifying.  Do you?

Then let the politicians know:

http://www.lifevote.org.au/










Next Post: The Victorian parliament voted against providing support-counselling for women. [VicHansard 3536-3550]

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Why pro-life; what about all the other needy people in the world?

I have decided to start by answering a question put by a commenter on a news article recently.

Why all the fuss over a clump of cells?  If you really cared about people you would be campaigning for those living, breathing, thinking feeling people dying every day around the world.

1. A fetus (young one, baby in the womb) is not a clump of cells any more than you or I are.  Our whole life experience can be boiled down to chemical and electrical signals being fired around our bodies.  A fetus might not have had time to build up the connections in the brain an adult has but an unborn baby is just as human as you or I, only smaller.

2. There are many, many worth causes in the world, many people in need, many lives being lost everyday but if I gave money to every cause I would be broke and each cause would get a pittance from me.  Instead my husband and I have decided how much money we will give and then decided the few place we think it will do the most good.  You may have different priorities and that is fine.  And just as my money only stretches so far, so does my time and energy.  Do you think Wilberforce campaigned for fifty different causes?  Or was he sold out to the one thing that mattered most to him?  I have a feeling those who have changed the world are the ones that ate, slept, and breathed their cause not the ones that gave a token acknowledgement to being for or against.

3. I believe I can make a difference.  Right now we are six weeks from a state election.  The policies of the current government are on trial.  Will we reinstate the ones who legislated for abortion up until birth with no protection for babies or women?  Or will we say no to this legislation and vote for candidates who respect life and respect women?  So for the next 6 weeks at least I will be doing all I can to make sure people who will overturn the 2008 abortion laws are in power after the election.

Do you know what the current law is?  Do you know who voted for and against it?  Do you know why I think these laws are not only anti-life but also anti-women?  Follow me as I explore the issues and make an informed choice this November.