4 Problems With Western Australia’s New Abortion Laws

Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

The following article was sent to me by a reader in Perth, Western Australia. It highlights the horrendous attitude toward the aborting of healthy babies for mere whimsical notions on the part of both mothers to be and their doctors, and is a universal plague.

Such an inhuman and cruel attitude to the destruction of life human life was part of the accusation laid against Judah of old and made part of the reason the judgment of God fell upon that people.

Consider these words:

“‭And they left‭‭ all the commandments‭ of the LORD‭ their God‭, and made‭‭ them molten images‭, ‭even‭ two‭ calves‭, and made‭‭ a grove‭, and worshipped‭‭ all the host‭ of heaven‭, and served‭‭ Baal‭.‭ ‭And they caused their sons‭ and their daughters‭ to pass‭‭ through the fire‭, and used‭‭ divination‭ and enchantments‭‭, and sold‭‭ themselves to do‭‭ evil‭ in the sight‭ of the LORD‭, to provoke him to anger‭‭,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ 2 Kings 17:16-17.

These words are part of a lengthy indictment of Israel by the Lord. These two verses link the abandonment of the commandments of God by a people and their cruel mistreatment of children.

Those two crimes are indissolubly linked in the widely accepted behaviour of today’s society. The murder of the unborn is increasingly becoming legal, with less and less restriction being placed upon the circumstance in which an unborn baby may be brutally killed.

As I have often said: the blame for the renunciation of everything God deems sacred and the dreadful crimes that are then sanctioned by the law, lies at the feet of the false prophets in apostate denominations, of which we have some here in Ulster.

There is a day coming when all engaged in this wickedness will stand before the Lord and give an account of their depraved actions and then enter into the eternal consequences of their crimes!

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster


4 Problems With Western Australia’s New Abortion Laws

(Article published in the THE EPOCH TIMES)

By Peter Abetz

September 7, 2023
Updated: September 7, 2023

Commentary

The Abortion Legislation Reform Bill 2023 has been sold to the public as being necessary to bring it into line with other states and “modernise” Western Australia’s (WA) abortion law.

The reality is that it does neither.

Most significantly, the Bill fails to include four important provisions that the South Australian Parliament included when it changed its abortion law in 2021.

In light of research conducted at La Trobe University, which found that in some ethnic communities in Australia, there are 125 boys born for every 100 girls, South Australia included a ban on sex-selection abortions.

It is abhorrent to think that WA’s Bill will now allow a baby to be aborted simply because it is female.

Further, in states where late-term abortions have been made easily accessible, there has been a significant number of so-called “failed” abortions—where the baby is born alive. The Victorian and Queensland authorities require these to be reported.

Between the years 2010 and 2020, 328 babies in Victoria were born alive as a result of an abortion procedure, and 398 in Queensland. These babies were left to die, without any medical or palliative care.

Hence, South Australia included a provision that babies born alive following a late-term abortion must be given the same medical care as would be given to babies born prematurely. To simply leave them in a medical tray until they die is inhumane.

In order to give women a genuine choice as to whether to abort or not, the South Australian legislation requires that women enquiring about abortion must be given information as to where they can access independent counselling.

Given that surveys consistently show that over 50 percent of women who have had abortions felt pressured to do so, this surely would be supported by anyone who says they are “pro-choice.”

The WA Bill simply allows late-term abortions if the doctor doing the abortion can find another doctor who will agree that the procedure, in all the circumstances, is appropriate.

It allows late-term abortions for psycho-social reasons, which effectively allows abortion to birth for any and no reason.

The South Australian legislation is slightly more restrictive, allowing late-term abortions only if there is a significant risk of serious fetal abnormality or serious risk to the physical or mental health of the mother.

Many surveys show that late-term abortions of healthy babies—when a baby has every chance of surviving into adulthood if it were born prematurely at that time—do not enjoy widespread community support.

A general view of the Perth City skyline taken by Rev Foster on a visit to Perth in 2004

WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson bizarrely labelled the parliamentary e-petition sponsored by her fellow Labor MP Kate Doust calling for these four South Australian provisions to be included in the WA Bill as “part of the misinformation campaign from the pro-life Christian lobby.”

Minister Sanderson claimed “there is no such thing as babies born alive after an abortion,” yet the Victorian and the Queensland Health Departments publish the numbers that occur in their states!

And surprisingly, she contradicts her claim that they do not occur when she admits that a small number of babies pass away post-termination.

Since the 1998 abortion legislation was passed, medical research has shown that babies begin to experience pain from 13 to 15 weeks onwards. As post-13-week abortions are usually conducted by inducing labour using misoprostol, the unborn baby experiences significant trauma during the delivery process.

The Bill fails to require pain relief to be provided to the unborn baby for post-13 weeks of an abortion.

Since its overwhelming victory in 2021, the Labor government has refused to allow amendments to any of its legislation. The Aboriginal Heritage Bill was rammed through the lower house in one day and ended up being a disaster.

Using its massive majority to prevent any amendments to legislation simply because it can, is not good governance.

Labor MLC Kate Doust should be congratulated on having the courage to move amendments to include the South Australian provisions into West Australia’s abortion law.