TWO bills aimed at legalising abortion in Queensland have been withdrawn by Cairns Independent State MP Rob Pyne this week.
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But the Queensland Government will seek advice from the Queensland Law Reform Commission about current laws of abortion.
Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the recommendations will form further recommendations that Labor would reintroduce to the parliament in the next term of parliament.
There were online petitions for and against the legalisation of abortions in Queensland.
An online Pro Choice Queensland petition said women would continue to be denied certain medical treatment at hospitals while abortion was defined as a crime.
“But now there’s a rare chance to change that,” the petition said.
A petition against the bill said it “appears to contradict itself and disregards the seriousness of the issue it addresses.”
The views in this petition match those of Mount Isa senior citizen Peter Smith, 83,
Mr Smith represented Indigenous Australians at the World Council of Churches at a United Nations Forum, chaired the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, and is a Vietnam War veteran.
“I believe in the right to life of all humans,” he said.
“We have organisations which are holding street marches and protests against killing adult criminals who have committed horrible offences.
“Yet there are those most innocent of all humans who can be killed within the law, if this bill is successful.”
Mr Smith said if abortion was legalised than it should be ensured that counselling be made available to women who were considering having an abortion, and after they had the operation.
“I don’t want to see these women criminalised. I want them to have support and counselling to help them and suffering they are going through as a result of their abortion.”
A Pro Choice Queensland petitioner, identified as ‘Behzad’ in the northern Brisbane suburbs, said it was a “disgrace” for Queensland to avoid recognising basic human rights.
“As part of the immigrant citizenry of Australia, I have witnessed firsthand how religious convictions and traditionalism turn misogyny into a routine.
“It is time to make up for that mistake and grant women the right to govern over their bodies.”
Queensland Greens’ Brisbane Central candidate Kirsten Lovejoy said that the two major parties failed women in Queensland.
“While we welcome this matter being referred to the Law Reform Commission, we already know what needs to happen.
“Make it legal, make it accessible, make it free.”