Abbott on offensive against abortion rights

Peter Mac

Health Minister and Catholic fundamentalist Tony Abbott revealed 
the Howard Government's backward attitude towards women in a 
statement claiming that women who terminated pregnancies were 
"taking the easy way out". His remarks may foreshadow a move to 
terminate Medicare funding of abortions.

In a speech at Adelaide University Abbott had criticised 
Australian teenagers as being promiscuous and stated that the 
current rate of some 100,000 abortions per year in Australia were 
a measure of the nation's "moral health". 

He apparently believes, like the Prime Minister, that this 
situation can be remedied by people only having children within 
the sanctity of marriage, and by carrying all pregnancies to full 
term.

He indicated that with regard to abortion "an objectively grave 
matter has been reduced to a question of the mother's 
convenience".

His parliamentary colleague Treasurer Peter Costello's response 
was just as insulting to women: "We would not want it to become 
one of those incendiary political issues in this country. Let's 
not try and turn elections on issues like that", he declared.

MPs such as Liberal David Clark and Christian Democrat Gordon 
Moyes have, as would be expected, supported Abbott's reactionary 
stance. But some who reject Abbott's views appear equivocal on 
the question of a woman's right to choose.

Roberto Rojas-Morales, director of the organisation Sexual Health 
and Family Planning Australia, acknowledged that the rate of 
abortion was high. However, he attributed this to a lack of sex 
education, and recommended that the government boost funding for 
sex education. The Howard Government has yet to indicate whether 
the organisation will receive federal funding.

The convenor of the Australian Women's Health Network, Helen 
Keleher, challenged Abbott to insist that schools, including 
Catholic schools, give full and frank contraception advice.

Last week NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon challenged Premier Carr and 
the opposition leader John Brogden to endorse women's right to 
choose. "Enough is enough and it's time that men and women from 
both sides of politics stood up for women's rights each time they 
come under attack", she said.