Friday, October 21, 2016

Archbishop Coleridge: New Qld law would trivialise abortion

Outspoken response to new billAbortion would be treated as a trivial procedure despite the surgical risks and great personal significance, Brisbane's Archbishop Mark Coleridge has written in response to the latest abortion reform bill introduced into the Queensland Parliament.

The Health (Abortion Law Reform) Amendment Bill 2016 is the second piece of reform legislation introduced this year by abortion advocate Rob Pyne, Member for Cairns.

His earlier bill, aimed at decriminalising abortion, was put to the Parliamentary Health Committee, but the committee recommended it not be passed.

His second bill would widen access to abortion clinics.

Archbishop Coleridge said in his submission to the committee: “It is true that the majority of the population believes that women should have access to abortion, but it is also true that there is preference for women to have real and immediate access to alternatives to abortion.
“Even among those who support abortion in principle, many do not support it other than for medical reasons. A recent Galaxy Poll in Queensland found that 72 percent of Queenslanders are opposed to abortion after three months.

“Abortion is a procedure with surgical risks and great personal significance.

“The complete deregulation of abortion up to 24 weeks as embodied in this bill does not meet the minimal standards of care for women’s health.”

Archbishop Coleridge’s submission is one of more than 1000 lodged with the committee for evaluation and available for viewing on the parliamentary website.

In a submission from the Catholic Medical Guild of St Luke, president Dr Terrence Kent criticised the bill’s narrow definition of abortion as “causing a woman’s miscarriage by (a) administering a drug, (b) using an instrument, or (c) any other means.”