It was inevitable that the Parliamentary debate and conscience vote on removal of the RU-486 veto would turn into an argument over the availability of abortion. And so we had the unedifying spectacle of politician after politician proclaiming their own personal stance on the matter. Although commonsense won out in the end, there is something vaguely uncomfortable about decisions on matters of personal morality being decided on the whims of politicians. After all, the debate was concerned with removing approval of RU486 from the personal whim of the Health Minister, Tony Abbott.

Let us not forget that the Ministerial veto was put in place 10 years ago because of a moral crusade waged by Senator Brian Harradine, whose vote the Government just happened to need to pass legislation for the partial sale of Telstra in 1996. Thankfully, the biased opinions of the then Senator from Tasmania and the current Health Minister have been soundly rebuffed and, subject to safety and efficacy approval of the drug by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the decision on whether or not to use RU486 will reside where it belongs - with women, their partners and their doctors.

A great deal of emotive nonsense was spoken and written during this debate. The Religious Right groups and the Catholic Church, of course, mobilised their followers to bombard the Senate Committee and individual politicians with demands to oppose the Bill. The irony is that, while opposing abortion, many of these groups also oppose sex education in schools and the use of contraception, two measures which would go a long way towards reducing the incidence of abortion.

Although anti-abortion campaign letters swamped the Senate inquiry, the Committee Report wisely recognised the polarisation of views and declined to make a recommendation. After the Senate voted in favour of the Bill by 45-28, the Australian Christian Lobby issed a media release entitled Will Representatives show Responsibility on RU486? in which ACL Executive Chairman Jim Wallace said:

73% of Australians believe the rate of abortion is too high and since RU486 is clearly an abortion drug, there seems to be a disconnect between the values of our Senators and the values of the Australian people.

This is a spurious and fallacious claim. The fact that a majority of Australians think there are too many abortions does not mean that they would deny women the right to choose abortion, or to choose RU486 instead of surgery. In fact, newspaper and online surveys have indicated that Australians strongly support the decision of the Parliament. In this matter at least, there is no disconnect between values.

The conclusion to be reached from this debate is that Australians do not want to be told what to think on matters of personal ethics and morality, either by the Religious Right or by politicians. Instead they have spoken loudly and clearly to the noseyparkers and busybodies of the world, “Get out of our bedrooms, and stay out!”

Filed in: Abortion, Politics