Page 1112 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 23 June 1992
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Underwriting my comments on this issue is an acceptance of the fact that the decision to have an abortion is never an easy one. A woman who finds herself pregnant and feels that her situation does not allow her to proceed with the pregnancy needs support and understanding regardless of her decision. Given that women do seek pregnancy terminations, what removing this legislation will do is give support and counselling to women under stress, without adding the trauma of interstate travel and time away from support networks.
To address one other point, the anti-abortion lobby seems to feel that by making abortion hard to get, or by eventually outlawing it altogether, they will stop the practice. What they appear unwilling to accept is that, whether services are provided legally or illegally, the demand for abortion has continued and always will continue. Romania tried unsuccessfully to outlaw abortion and introduced mandatory pregnancy checks under Nikolae Ceaucescu. We were all affronted, confronted and saddened at the images which came from orphanages after the fall of the regime, but a part of the story that did not reach our screens was the number of women who died as a result of illegal abortions.
While there are no figures available, experience in other countries shows that the mortality rate is high but the demand has not lessened. In Brazil it is estimated that one-quarter of women who have had illegal abortions have died as a result of the procedure. Beyond 2000 recently estimated that more than 200,000 women worldwide die each year as a result of illegal abortions. The only country in recent times to reimpose restrictions on access to pregnancy terminations is Iran, which outlawed abortion after the fall of the Shah. So what do we, as a community, want for ourselves? Do we want equality of access, to stand on the same footing as women interstate? Or do we want to continue making women in this community suffer because they choose to live in Canberra?
Let me clarify one point in this debate. Abortion is not an illegal procedure in Australia. It is a procedure that is carried out on an estimated 1,500 ACT women each year. The injustice of the present system is that this is conducted in Sydney, in Melbourne, and more widely - in fact, anywhere else but here. The necessary follow-up services are not properly coordinated and it is women's health that is suffering. As I have stated, I believe that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is never an easy one. What Canberra eventually needs, I believe, is a comprehensive service for women choosing to terminate their pregnancies. Today we take a small step in that direction by removing the extra trauma that comes with being an ACT woman who chooses to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
MR WESTENDE (9.03): Madam Speaker, for me it is a tragedy that we have to have this debate, because I owe so much to this country and this community. When I came to Australia we wanted more people, not fewer, and that is the case today. When I arrived I was convinced that you get out of life what you put into it; but, to be as lucky as I am and as I have been, you have to be born first.
Madam Speaker, of all the matters that I will address in this Assembly there will be no issue more important than this one. All the other issues I will address will be about a great many subjects to do with how we live, how we can improve our lifestyles, how we can improve our environment and how we can preserve our past. However, Madam Speaker, the matter before us now is to consider life itself - life, the beginning of life, the sanctity of life, the meaning of life, life itself.
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