Goss resists repealing abortion laws
By Susan Price
BRISBANE — In the recent review of the Criminal Code, initiated by attorney general Deane Wells to bring Queensland's laws "into the 21st century", sections which cover abortion were excluded from review by Wells and ALP Premier Wayne Goss. In the same review, laws on vasectomy were removed from the code.
Children By Choice organised a picket of parliament on April 5 to coincide with the tabling of the report by the Criminal Code Review Committee. Around 100 supporters participated in the action, including a large contingent from the newly formed "Pro-Choice Club" at the University of Queensland.
The club was launched with a meeting of 100 students in March, and has begun a campaign, entitled "Your Laws, Our Lives", to pressure the government to repeal Queensland's abortion laws. The club is also campaigning on campus for the introduction of policy to the Student Union's constitution supporting a woman's right to abortion.
Anti-abortion forces here stepped up their activities in February and March, launching a campaign of intimidation of women seeking to use the services of Planned Parenthood of Australia at its clinic in Bowen Hills.
A court injunction was taken out against three protesters who had verbally and physically harassed women, their friends and staff. The injunction was later dropped because it was feared that clients of PPA might be called upon to be cross-examined in the trial of a member of the Catholic Workers organisation who had breached the court order.