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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2606 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

I am not one to go to lots and lots of statistics because I think quite often they can be misused, as I have described earlier. But I will read from a book by Leslie Kennol, The Abortion Myth, and I will just touch on some of the statistics mentioned in it. It says:

One study of New York women who'd had a safe and legal abortion found that 45 per cent would have tried to get an abortion even if it was illegal. Globally, an estimated 13 per cent of pregnancy-related deaths-or one in eight-are the result of an unsafe abortion. While 700 000 women die each year from unsafe abortions, much larger numbers experience a range of complications, which include sepsis, haemorrhage, uterine perforation, kidney failure and even coma.

I know that is not the case in Australia, but you need to consider these statistics against some of the comments people are making about abortion in Australia, such as those about breast cancer and those sorts of things. It also says:

A South African study of 647 women who'd ended up in hospital after unsafe abortions found that 35 had to have a hysterectomy.

These are the cruel statistics which occur overseas because of the idea that it is wrong to have an abortion and because safe and legal ones are not available. I go on further:

Feminists have also asked how moral it is to support re-criminalisation when this results in the birth of more unwanted-and so at risk-children. Eight out of ten babies murdered by their mothers, for example, are from unwanted pregnancies.

I am not going to go on any more with that. It is too distressing. This is a serious issue for women. Women ought to be allowed to consider their position in relation to abortion without being forced into situations which are designed to humiliate them. I will not stand for it and that is why from the very outset I opposed this legislation, and that is why I have continued to campaign to get rid of it-and I trust that that will happen this evening.

Question put:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

The Assembly voted-

Ayes 9 Noes 8

Mr Berry Ms MacDonald Mr Cornwell Mr Smyth

Mr Corbell Mr Quinlan Mrs Dunne Mr Stefaniak

Mrs Cross Mr Stanhope Mr Hargreaves Mr Wood

Ms Dundas Ms Tucker Mr Humphries

Ms Gallagher Mr Pratt

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

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