Pro-life supporters in Sydney turned out in force at New South Wales Parliament House to support a bill introduced by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick to ban sex-selective abortion in the state. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
More than 1000 people of all ages and walks of life attended the rally on October 22, despite temperatures soaring past 35-plus degrees, in the third anti-abortion rally held outside Parliament House this year.
Prominent pro-life advocate Joanna Howe said the crowd’s support for the bill represented concerns from both Christian and non-Christian groups about the practice of abortion in Australia.
“We’ve had two rallies fighting an egregious abortion bill here in NSW, we’ve now had a rally today to continue our cause, and I think it’s safe to say from what I’ve witnessed, you don’t have to be a Christian to oppose abortion as a practice,” Dr Howe said.
“Anybody who knows and understands their human rights can see that abortion is an evil practice, particularly if it comes at the expense of the lives of little girls or little boys across Australia.”
Liberal MLC Susan Carter told the crowd the practice highlighted double standards regarding the treatment of women in NSW.
“There is no law in New South Wales that says we cannot terminate a life simply because it is female, and that law has to change,” she said.
In May, a study by researchers based at Edith Cowan University and Curtin University revealed there was a disproportionate number of male over female births among certain migrant populations in New South Wales and Western Australia during the period 1994–2015.
The researchers said it was indirect evidence of sex-selective abortion practices.
In his second reading speech, Mr Ruddick reminded his colleagues in parliament that it had voted “firmly” against the practice of gender-based abortions in 2019.
“But that vote only created guidelines and provided no form of punishment for the medical practitioners. In light of the Edith Cowan University and Curtin University research, the time has come for this Parliament to take action [and] impose penalties on medical professionals who knowingly engage in a gender-based abortion,” he said.
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Heat didn’t stop Sydneysiders from uniting to protest sex-selective abortion practices in NSW (By Alex Woolnough, The Catholic Weekly)
