Page 2335 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 August 2017
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sideline their own goals and aspirations for the sake of an unwanted pregnancy. It is repressive. It is oppressive. It limits women. It promotes unhealthy families. And the reality is that abortions still happen; they just become extremely unsafe and traumatic.
What exactly do members of the ACT Liberal Party think? Here is a selection: Mrs Dunne, the shadow health minister—I will say it again: the shadow health minister—recently tweeted her support for the retrograde actions of 25 members of the New South Wales legislature who voted down a bid to decriminalise abortion. Unsurprisingly, 21 of those members were men who are never going to carry a child, give birth or breastfeed a child.
It genuinely scares me, Madam Assistant Speaker, to think of an alternative health minister who considers that a woman who chooses not to proceed with an unwanted pregnancy is a criminal. In the same Twitter conversation, Mrs Dunne hashtagged herself as pro woman. Not only did Mrs Dunne crow about what happened in New South Wales; she had the gall to say that the ACT laws 15 years ago were, and I quote, “bad law just like New South Wales”.
She then described me as “pro-abortion for the votes”. That Mrs Dunne could make light of such a fundamental right, to describe pro-choice as pro-abortion and not just to imply but to outright declare that I stand up for a woman’s right to choose simply to get elected is utterly disrespectful, not just to me but to all women.
Mrs Jones was here today. The shadow minister for women addressed the National Civic Council in February 2016. An alternative minister for women has the support of an ultra-conservative group that is vehemently opposed to abortion, divorce and same sex marriage. As a woman I want a minister for women who stands up for all women, not just a few. And standing up means giving women choices in their lives.
Then there is Mr Wall, who unfortunately cannot be here this morning. He wants to erase feminists from our history. He recently penned a column in which he described himself as appalled at the independent ACT place names committee decision to name a street in Denman Prospect in honour of an inspiring feminist, Julia Trubridge-Freebury, who campaigned for abortion rights.
He seems to think she is not worthy of our respect because she proudly publicised the fact she had four abortions. I think, and I stand with others in the community who think the same and have since written the same in letters to the editor and in conversations, that she was a woman who had the strength to live her life on her own terms.
The Leader of the Opposition himself, Mr Coe, has also unfortunately weighed in on the debate. At the 2016 Australian Christian Lobby election forum he indicated that he thinks all abortions are immoral, regardless of the stage of pregnancy at which they occur. The actions of the ACT Liberal Party regrettably are not limited to comments made on social media and misguided columns and statements. They have actively tried to impose their anti-abortion agenda on the women of Canberra.
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