Catholic leaders
say Victoria's proposed new abortion laws outlined in the Abortion Law
Reform Bill 2008 currently before the Victorian Parliament are seriously
flawed and offer virtually no measures to safeguard the lives of unborn
children.
Jesuit bio-ethicist Fr Bill Uren says that even if there were something to be
said for decriminalising abortion, the proposed legislation would need to be
much more strictly drafted with much more accountability required of doctors
and many more safeguards to protect mothers and unborn children.
‘Even in comparison with other international legislation where abortion is
permitted, the proposed Victorian legislation is so full of loopholes that in
practice there will be virtually abortion on demand', Fr Uren said.
Debate on the Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 begins on 9 September. The
bill seeks to legalise abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and will also
make it legal for a woman to get an abortion after 24 weeks and even up to full
term with the permission of two doctors.
Under current legislation, a doctor needs to prove that there is a physical or
psychological reason for an abortion to be carried out. A doctor who performs
an abortion is liable to be called up on criminal charges to examine whether it
was necessary. Under Section 4 of the proposed legislation there will be no
restrictions on a doctor performing an abortion on a woman who is less than 24
weeks pregnant.
There are also concerns about the ‘conscientious objection' clauses in Section
8 of the proposed bill. A doctor who has a conscientious objection to
performing abortions will be obliged to refer patients seeking an abortion to
another doctor who has no such objection. Moreover there are some cases, also
outlined in Section 8 of the Bill, in which a registered medical practitioner
will be under a duty to perform an abortion and a registered nurse will be
obliged to assist with the procedure, even when it is against their conscience.
‘If I was a doctor I'd object very strongly to that', said Fr Uren.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has also raised concerns about the proposed
legislation changes, calling on Victorians to ‘choose life' and oppose the
bill.
‘Treating abortion as an ordinary medical procedure deprives the unborn, our
most vulnerable human beings, of the legal protection which the law should
afford them', said Archbishop Hart.
‘An abortion is not like any other medical procedure, and any attempt to treat
it as such should be opposed both for the sake of the unborn and for the sake
of women who may be pressured to have an abortion.'
The Melbourne Archdiocese is hosting a 40-hour prayer of intercession from 6pm
Sunday 7 September to 9am Tuesday 9 September at St Anthony's Shrine, 182 Power Street
Hawthorn. They are also calling on Catholics to contact their local members and
express their disapproval for the new laws.
Click here for more information.
You might also
like to read this statement from the Society of Jesus in the United States on abortion.