Australian churches begin campaign against late-term abortion
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Australian churches have begun a public campaign opposing late-term abortion. Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Buddhist, Hindu, Lutheran, Sikh, Salvation Army, Wesleyan and Seventh-Day Adventist religious groups issued a signed statement yesterday calling for laws limiting abortions after a pregnancy has reached its 20th week.
The statement also calls for information to be provided to women considering abortion. They should receive detailed information about the health risks, the stage of the actual foetal development and the exact nature of the medical procedure. Additionally, a seven day "cooling down period" should follow initial counseling to give women more time to consider their decision.
But according to the document, the concerned church leaders are also aware that public opinion in Australia is predominantly pro-choice.
And New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has revealed that of 31,600 abortions in NSW last year, only 200 were in fact late term.
Prime Minister John Howard has welcomed the renewed debate about abortion without committing himself yet.
References
- Linda Morris, Stephanie Peatling and Connie Levett "Churches move against late-term abortions". Sydney Morning Herald, February 2, 2005
- "Minister reveals drop in abortions". Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 2, 2005
 Share this: |
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
