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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2506 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

It concludes:

Mr Berry's proposals are extreme and reckless. They are not in the best interests of the ACT community.

I would endorse that last comment.

I was interested today to read an article from a person who has bitter experience-Katherine Smith-and I think this lady has written to all members. She pleads for better, not worse, counselling for women. Katherine's article states:

Wayne Berry's abortion Bills will be debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly today. As a woman whose life has been scarred by having an abortion, I believe his proposals are misguided. I was 29 years old when I discovered I was pregnant. It took its toll on me physically and emotionally and I felt anxious about what lay ahead of me. While there were issues with my relationship with the baby's father, and I felt the usual anxieties, sickness and fears of a first-time mum, I had not decided on an abortion. I started taking folic-acid for the baby's development, hardly a sign that I had decided I didn't want to keep the baby.

I was very confused, and what I really needed was someone to tell me that I would be able to manage and that I'd be a good mother. Nobody said "congratulations" on hearing of my pregnancy. In fact, most people said "get rid of it" because I was unmarried and the pregnancy was unplanned.

When I went to the Family Planning Clinic I wasn't sure if I wanted an abortion. I didn't even realise I was going to an actual abortion clinic; the name didn't suggest anything of the sort! I did want counselling and I did want to discuss my options, and to think about them. Instead, I felt railroaded into having an abortion.

The counsellor recorded as the reasons for the abortion that I was financially and emotionally unable to take care of the child. Neither reason was true. What's more, the clinic was more than willing to get around the required three-day cooling-off period.

Wayne Berry wants to remove laws that require the clinic to provide women with unbiased information. He claims that women considering abortion will already have thought long and hard about their decision beforehand and therefore don't need this information. How does he know?

In my case, the information given to me by the abortion provider about risks was minimal and delivered in a way that trivialised its importance. They made me feel that they knew what was best for me. They didn't prepare me for what I would experience.

I suffered from nervous shock after the abortion. I cried uncontrollably for weeks and lost five kilos in a matter of days because I couldn't eat. My relationship broke up.

Now, more than a year later, I am still suffering the consequences of the inadequate treatment I received and I am still on anti-depressants and sleeping tablets. I am taking legal action against the clinic because it did not follow the current requirements of law and because of what I have suffered.

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