Our right to choose
@column = The struggle to secure women's right to abortion
is ongoing. Access to abortion as a safe medical procedure
is a political issue in a system which stigmatises abortion
as a criminal act, and women must have the right to exercise
choice about their own reproductive future.
@column = The ALP, for all its posturing around women's
issues, has failed to deliver on this fundamental question.
In Queensland, the Goss Labor government has not
decriminalised abortion despite this being a pre-election
promise. Andrew Refshauge — minister for health and
deputy leader of the NSW ALP — criticised pro-choice
activists who protested outside a 1994 NSW ALP conference
for trying to repeal abortion laws. He claimed the
conscience vote was safer than trying to repeal abortion
laws, thus leaving the political space open for the
anti-choice lobby. NSW 'left' ALP parliamentarian Sandra
Nori refuses to introduce a repeal bill on the basis that
the "numbers" aren't right.
@column = The ALP avoids taking a stand on the issue of
abortion by hiding behind the conscience vote. This places
the individual feelings of parliamentarians above the
political issue of women's rights and flies in the face of
public opinion. A 1991 national poll by McNair Anderson
found 81% pro-choice.
@column = The campaign by ALP women to win more safe seats,
financed by a fund known as "Emily's List", is
floundering on the issue. A row has developed between
Victorian ALP women, who have put a proposal for a structure
for Emily's List to the ALP national executive, and their
NSW counterparts. Some women in the NSW ALP, led by Meredith
Burgmann, are pressuring the national executive to include
in the constitution for Emily's List that endorsed women
candidates must be pro-choice.
@column = It's an admirable stand by Burgmann, but one that
is unlikely to win a hearing. The ALP's record speaks for
itself. Nevertheless, the proposal has caused a stir.
@column = One of the reasons for the controversy is that the
Emily's List proposal, while it will secure seats for women
in parliament, does not guarantee seats for progressive
candidates. In fact, when Emily's List was first proposed,
the ALP left did not support it because the right had better
numbers. Securing seats for women could easily mean securing
seats for right-wing women.
@column = Labor has thus far retained its conscience vote on
abortion. If Burgmann's proposal is rejected, the Emily's
List campaign will be of little use in reversing this
attitude. The ALP still regards women's rights as expendable
— only to be trotted out at election time when the need
arises.
@column = With an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 abortions
happening each year in Australia, the ALP is clearly out of
touch with women's real needs.
By Kath Gelber