Please allow us to pray

On Wednesday, 22 July 2020, the SA Lower House will debate and possibly vote on the Health Care (Safe Access) Amendment Bill 2020.

The Bill will establish 70,000 square metre zones in at least 12 areas (possibly more) in South Australia where it will be against the law to communicate about abortion in a way that can be seen and heard by those entering or leaving a place where abortions are carried out.

Troy Bell the Independent member for Mt Gambier has tabled a motion in the Lower House which calls for the removal of barriers to adoption so that more SA children could be placed in permanent homes rather than in foster care.

We are being pushed by MPs into a clamp down state which shuts down freedom of speech and facilitates the commercialisation of abortion. The Health Care (Safe Access) Amendment Bill 2020 will ban any communication about abortion within 150 metres of a place where abortions are provided.

ACL’s highly anticipated 'LGBT Conversion Legislation Online Forum' was a success last Tuesday, 9 June 2020, with around 250 participants Zooming into our webinar.

On Wednesday, 10 June 2020, ACL participated in the Victorian Government’s 'Review into the Decriminalisation of Sex Work'. This review of prostitution covered commercial brothels and escort agencies, massage parlours and similar businesses, in small owner-operated businesses, and on the streets.

I spent my late teens and early 20s – more than six years – in discipleship ministry to young people. They were mostly refugees from Africa, racial minorities, and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. I poured everything I had into these kids. I was privileged to know them better than most.

Do you remember all those letters South Australians wrote to their State Coordinator, urging him not to use his Covid-19 emergency powers to change abortion law? Recently, South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer wrote:

"The current legislation on abortion was not specifically changed by the [Covid-19 Emergency] Response Act. Accordingly, the legislation governing pregnancy terminations remains as agreed by Parliament prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to not change the current legislation on abortion was influenced by the fact that there was no evidence that this core health service had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic."

(emphasis, by ACL)

George Floyd’s death is a tragedy.

A police officer abused his power and a man died. The officer should be punished accordingly, and he has been.

Last Tuesday, the Australian Christian Lobby called out the NSW government’s approach of imposing greater COVID-19 restrictions on churches than on pubs, clubs and restaurants, saying it failed the ‘pub test’.

The upcoming 4 July by-election in the Federal seat of Eden-Monaro is of national significance for people of faith across the nation.

With Labor yet to take a position on Scott Morrison’s religious discrimination bill, a Liberal victory in the seat would provide more certainty for the passage of the legislation, which seeks to ensure religious freedom is protected for all Australians.