By Kamala Emanuel (Hobart)
A pregnant woman is the only person qualified to determine what course of action to take regarding her pregnancy — whether to continue it or have an abortion.
The right to decide should not have to be proven to satisfy "gatekeepers", whether they be doctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, legislators or religious intruders. Neither should individual women's right to decide be qualified, subject to arbitrary cut-offs such as gestational age or the whim of health service providers.
Having a baby usually has an immense impact on a woman's life, and each woman knows her own circumstances. Abortion must be available on demand — as early as possible and as late as necessary.
In every Australian state and territory, abortion is the subject of criminal code sanctions. Despite legal liberalisation since the 1960s, the right to abortion has only been partially won — there is still a long way to go before it is free, safe and accessible.
Women's right to abortion has been under political, legal and ideological attack ever since it was won. There have been attempts to end Medicare payments for abortion and constant harassment by anti-choice "pro-life" groups.
Recent setbacks include the 1998 Western Australian legislation, which enables most women seeking an abortion to have it legally but increases the number of hoops they have to jump through and imposes additional hurdles for young women. The new ACT legislation imposes a mandatory three-day "cooling off" period after compulsory counselling before a woman is permitted to have an abortion. And last November, the Queensland Labor government threatened to review the emotively labelled "late-term" abortion option, with the aim of imposing restrictions on its provision.
The Labor Party, Coalition parties and Australian Democrats all have a "conscience vote" on abortion. The conscience vote is fundamentally undemocratic, leaving to individual politicians the decision about important public policy questions. It makes the politicians, and the parties they represent, unaccountable and leaves the 80% of Australians who support women's right to choose disenfranchised.
The Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance reject the conscience vote. We believe that control over her fertility, including the unqualified right to abortion and freedom from forced sterilisation, is every woman's right.
Abortion should be treated no differently from any other medical procedure. That means that all laws on abortion should be repealed so that every decision about abortion can be made by the woman concerned.
Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide!