Fred Nile’s extreme views lead to many young women being harassed – often by men – as they enter medical clinics. This is unacceptable.

Anti abortion crusaders have reached a new low with Reverend Fred Nile using misleading tactics to try and generate support for his personal quest to deny women their right to make their own reproductive choices.

“It’s disgraceful that Fred Nile is attempting to capitalise on the personal tragedy that Brodie Donegan has experiencd to push his anti-women, extreme religious agenda,” said NSW Greens MP and lead Senate candidate Cate Faehrmann.

“Now that we are entering an election year, Fred Nile’s anti-abortion agenda has kicked in to overdrive. We can expect a lot more anti-abortion hysteria from Fred Nile and his party in the coming weeks and months.

“Just this week Fred Nile’s newsletter, Family Voice, had a graphic and deliberately contentious image of a late-term abortion on the front page.

“Fred Nile continues to undermine a woman’s right to choose in the NSW Parliament. This latest offensive move demonstrates that he is willing to cross the line of compassion and decency in order to push his own agenda.

“In this federal election year – with Tony Abbott waiting in the wings to attack women’s rights nationally – women should be highly alert as extremists like Fred Nile attempt to impose their destructive and damaging personal agenda on our lives and choices.

“The basic right of all women to choose is more important for the future of our families than Fred Nile’s personal crusade against women,” said Ms Faehrmann.

-        Coalition deals with Fred Nile & Shooters

The NSW Government has secured deals with the extreme crossbench members of the NSW Parliament, according to Greens MP Cate Faehrmann. The Hon Rev Fred Nile and others are supporting the government’s move to shut down debate on a bill that will effectively cut public sector wages. This breach of NSW Parliamentary custom has not occurred since 1906.

“We now have a frightening wait to see what prizes the NSW Government has awarded the extreme Christian Democratic Party and the Shooters & Fishers Party for supporting them in shutting down the NSW House of Review,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“The Shooters & Fred Nile have an array of scary demands on government, such as removing a woman’s right to choose, banning same-sex adoption, hunting in National Parks and other extreme, last-century policies.

“I’m also worried about the status of the extremely important Proud Schools pilot program. We’ve had no indication from the new Education Minister what he intends to do there. I think it’s a safe bet Fred Nile doesn’t approve of this program that will reduce homophobic bullying in schools.

“In 1993, Fred Nile extended debate by filibustering on the legislation that improved protections for the gay and lesbian community, adding homosexual vilification into the Anti-discrimination Act. Today he helped shut down such a similar extended debate, and you can bet he didn’t do that for nothing. He’s an astute political operator and understands that nothing comes for free.

“Barry O’Farrell has dealt with these extreme parties to rush his attack on public sector workers through the Parliament without public scrutiny. Women, the gay and lesbian community and the environment will suffer because of this. It is truly disgraceful,” said Ms Faehrmann.

Media contact: Peter Stahel 0433 005 727

ABORTION

CATE FAEHRMANN [3.46 p.m.]: Today I draw the House’s attention to the hardships faced by women who seek an abortion in New South Wales. Not only does a woman’s right to choose abortion remain subject to criminal law in some circumstances but there are significant financial and other access barriers. The most significant barrier is the out-of-pocket cost of an abortion conducted in New South Wales before 12 weeks of pregnancy. Women are required to pay upfront between $255 to $525.The current out-of-pocket cost is between $175 and $300 after the women has received Medicare rebates. This is a substantial amount of money that creates significant barriers for many women.

A reproductive health service that is this expensive is out of reach to women receiving the Newstart Allowance, who get as little as $474.90 a fortnight, or someone earning the minimum wage of $15 an hour. This high up-front cost means that women on a low income will either have to borrow the money from family and friends or they will have to save the money from each fortnightly payment until they have the full cost saved. This means that those women are either being forced to disclose their pregnancy or they are having a termination much later than they would prefer.

After 12 weeks gestation the cost of an abortion continues to increase. For each week after 12 weeks the cost of an abortion increases by approximately $100. The maximum gestational age available in New South Wales is up to 20 weeks, by which time the cost can be as great as $2,000. Not only do these women have to make a difficult decision but financial and other pressures may require that they make the decision in a very short period. There are many circumstances where a woman is not able to get an abortion due to lack of access to comprehensive information before 12 weeks. The increased use of long-term contraceptives, such as the Implanon, which is inserted under the skin in a woman’s arm, can result in women having irregular bleeding or no bleeding. If the contraceptive fails, many women will not become aware of the pregnancy until after 12 weeks.

For women in rural and regional areas the costs are greatly increased. Though clinics in Tweed Heads, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Gosford and Wollongong provide abortion services, that is not much help for women in the areas of Bourke, Dubbo or Young. In addition, the majority of regional abortion services perform abortions only to 12 weeks gestation. On top of medical fees, women from regional New South Wales must also pay for transport and accommodation to get to a clinic. As a result, many women find they may have to take further time off work or further time away from their family. Of equal concern is the reality that many women will find that their budget may not stretch to allow a support person to accompany them to the clinic and assist them with their recovery.

Not only are clinics that offer abortion services limited but the number of doctors who are able and willing to perform the procedure is in decline. A major barrier for this is that doctors are not taught how to perform an abortion at medical school. The only provider of training in how to perform an abortion in New South Wales is the Preterm Foundation. Preterm is a not-for-profit organisation that provides medical students, nursing students and students from counselling and related fields training in best-practice pregnancy termination services.

Preterm also provides training for local and overseas doctors in termination procedures. This organisation exists for the benefit of women and to empower women to make a choice. It does not exist to make a profit from their need for a termination. The valuable training services provided by Preterm are filling the void left by lack of government commitment to this very important women’s health area.

I take this opportunity to also recognise the contribution of the Bessie Smyth Foundation, which between 2003 and 2006 operated statewide on a self-funded basis. The foundation provided a valuable all-options counselling, advocacy, brokerage and microfinance service for women. Despite extensive lobbying efforts and representation of an expression of interest to secure government funding in those years, this service had to cease service delivery in December 2006 as a result of a lack of resources. This has greatly reduced the services available to women in New South Wales. In addition to these financial barriers, women are still subject to stigmatisation for making choices about their futures. A significant step in reducing this stigmatisation would be removing abortion from the Crimes Act. It remains an offence in New South Wales to have an unlawful abortion. For an abortion to be lawful, it is required that a doctor considers that the abortion is necessary because the pregnancy is a threat to the women’s mental or physical health. It should be a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body. This is not the case in New South Wales as a result of both legal and financial barriers.

Today’s trial of Sergie Brennan and Tegan Leach in Queensland is an unfortunate reminder that in New South Wales too, it is still possible for a woman to be charged under the criminal code for procuring an abortion.

I want Premier Kristina Keneally to bring on overdue amendments to the Crimes Act to fix this before the election in March next year. We have one last opportunity to use the current parliament and overwhelming public support to fix these archaic laws.

The vast majority of Australians support the right of women to choose. Premier Keneally should  follow Victoria’s lead – to bring on these overdue amendments and a conscience vote immediately.

I will continue to work constructively with women in and outside of Parliament to ensure this issue doesn’t go away.

Despite the appalling nature of the charges being laid against these two young Queenslanders, I’m heartened to see the positive commentary that’s been inspired by their circumstances.

As George Williams writes in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

[the] Leach and Brennan’s case demonstrates the need for reform. Unfortunately, rather than causing the Queensland government to act, the case has left it paralysed. The state’s pro-choice Premier, Anna Bligh, has said that the matter must be dealt with by way of a private member’s bill and conscience vote.

The Greens want Premier Keneally to show leadership where Premier Bligh has failed. Williams continues:

Views about abortion have changed over the past century, and the statute book should alter to reflect this. The law must provide for circumstances in which a woman can terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

In this, Queensland and NSW should catch up with legal change elsewhere in Australia. They should legislate so that pregnancies may be terminated under medical supervision in a way that protects women’s interests and respects their reproductive decisions.

Hear hear.