SYDNEY — A planning meeting on May 11, attended by 65 women and convened by the Women's Abortion Action Campaign, decided to hold a rally on May 28, the international day for women's reproductive rights, on the issue of a woman's right to abortion.
Regular organising meetings are being held. The rally is planned as the start of an ongoing campaign for abortion rights, with the ultimate aim of repealing all abortion laws.
The rally has been called in response to public outrage at the April 18 court ruling in NSW that a woman could not be awarded damages for being unable to have an abortion because the abortion would have been illegal.
Organisers are canvassing support from a number of different organisations and individuals for the rally. In NSW, no politicians have yet said they are prepared to put forward a bill for repeal.
Over the last two weeks the socialist youth organisation Resistance has been organising debates on university campuses with the Right to Life organisation.
At the University of New South Wales, Dr Amin Abood from the Right to Life emphasised what he saw as the two key issues — defining when life begins, and the implementation of laws to "protect the unborn child". A pro-choice position was put by Kath Gelber, Green Left Weekly journalist, who emphasised that the issue of abortion is an issue of a woman's right to decide for herself when, if and how many children she wants to have.
Debate ensued, with vigorous participation by the audience, the majority of whom defended a woman's right to choose abortion, even if they did not entirely support abortion as a personal choice.
Many who have attended the meetings are planning activities to help build the May 28 rally on their campuses, by linking in with other groups and helping raising awareness through publicity work.