The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed its disappointment at the passing of the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 through the NSW Legislative Assembly today.
“It is deeply disappointing that this radical abortion-to-birth Bill has passed the Legislative Assembly. It is ethically wrong and without any voter mandate,” Australian Christian Lobby’s NSW director Kieren Jackson said.
“Numerous MPs acknowledged that they were inundated with phone calls and emails opposing this Bill. However, these messages and the ongoing protest against abortion outside the Parliament, in large part from the young ‘pro-life generation’, were ignored by the majority of MPs who voted to permit abortion up to birth.” Mr Jackson said.
“The abortion issue shaped the way people voted in the May Federal Election, where the ALP’s abortion funding policy hurt that party’s result, yet strangely the NSW Liberal Government has ignored this warning.
“The way this Bill was rushed through the Legislative Assembly, with the blessing of Premier Gladys Berejiklian, has been a disgrace. The suburban voters who changed their votes federally over abortion will now be appalled by the way this ideologically driven Bill has been rushed through,” Mr Jackson said.
Mr Jackson said the bill was not foreshadowed at the March state election and has come as a shock to many in the community.
“In the last term of government, Premier Berejiklian made it clear that her policy was to keep the status quo on abortion laws while Labor had a policy of referring this issue to the Law Reform Commission. Neither have stuck to their position,” he said.
“It was hard to watch the Premier, Health Minister and Attorney General join other MPs in rejecting an amendment to the Bill, that would have required neonatal care be given to babies born alive as a consequence of an abortion procedure.”
The Bill will now go before the Legislative Council where it will be examined by a committee for two weeks before debate in that House begins.
“The Legislative Council now has the opportunity to play its house-of-review role and overwhelmingly reject this flawed Bill,” Mr Jackson said.
