New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state and home to Sydney, has made the decision to legalize abortion. The decriminalization of abortion rescinds a 119-year old law that made it illegal to procure or perform an abortion. The decision was met with joy by pro-abortion activists.
The fight to legalize abortion in Australia’s most populous state was a contentious affair. Although abortions were performed in the state, usually the woman had to have a doctor identify a woman’s need for the procedure for mental or physical health reasons. Sometimes even social or economic factors were also considered. The law now allows abortion until the 22nd week of pregnancy. After the 22-weeks, a woman would need to get the approval of two medical practitioners.
This is a huge loss for our friends Down Under, and the language used became quite disturbing at times. At one event, some of the pro-abortion activists were shouting things like, “Put the fetus in the bin.” For those not familiar with British/Australian English colloquialisms, the protesters are saying to put a preborn baby in the trash. (The pro-abortion side has argued that what they were saying was to put the “bigots” in the trash.)
Roselyn Poole, a Sydney resident and pro-life supporter, said in response to the pro-abortion statements, “The irony of this is that we know they actually do that. The abortionists put the fetuses in the bin.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a member of the Conservative party, also spoke out against the new legislation. “It is a license for sex-selection abortion,” he said. “It is a license for late-term abortion. It is effectively infanticide on demand.”
Although it is a small blessing that abortion was not legalized until any point in the pregnancy, it is sad to see one of the few Western countries with a strong pro-life policy bend to the will of pro-abortion activists. Even with the 22-week cut off, abortions will likely continue much further into the pregnancy. A woman just needs to find two doctors who are willing to sign off, and that likely won’t be a difficult task.
There is only one last hold out over abortion, and that is the state of South Australia. In the state, women still need two physicians to agree to the abortion, and it can only be approved if the pregnancy endangers a woman’s physical and mental health. Otherwise the procedure remains unlawful.
It is unknown how much longer that will still be the case as it is likely that pro-abortion activists will move their operations down to South Australia sometime in the near future.
