To the People of Queensland and Our Political Leaders: A Joint Open Letter to Queenslanders and Our Political Leaders
21st October 2024
Abortion is healthcare. It has been six years since Queensland decriminalised abortion with the Termination of Pregnancy Act, affirming that abortion is healthcare. This was a crucial step in protecting the rights, health, and dignity of all pregnant people in our state.
However, we are deeply concerned by recent discussions suggesting the potential recriminalisation of abortion. This would be a harmful step backward, risking the health and safety of pregnant people and undoing years of progress.
Access to abortion is essential healthcare. Restricting it leads to dangerous consequences, with vulnerable communities facing the greatest harm. We must ensure that decisions about pregnancy remain personal and healthcare-based, not politicised.
We urge our leaders to protect the rights established by the Queensland Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 and keep abortion care safe, legal, and compassionate for all.
Yours sincerely
Dr Nicole Higgins
President, RACGP
Dr Gillian Gibson
President, RANZCOG
Jill McKay
CEO, Children by Choice
Karen Struthers
CEO, True Relationships and Reproductive Health
Daile Kelleher
CEO, Family Planning Alliance Australia
Angela Lynch
On behalf of Queensland Sexual Assault Network
Mitra Khakbaz
On behalf of Women’s Health Services Alliance
SOURCE: Children by Choice Newsletter, 21 October 2024 + full letter at: https://mcusercontent.com/15ed149e64b9ffcb4a138fc6f/files/ca871a51-3d00-4d1f-7ff4-32a537230962/Abortion_is_Healthcare_Joint_Letter_21102024.pdf
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Meanwhile in South Australia… Is abortion really on the ballot again…? State politics indicates it could be…
The South Australian parliament on Wednesday night narrowly defeated a bill that would force women seeking an abortion after 28 weeks of pregnancy to give birth. The Live Births Amendment Bill, introduced by Liberal MLC Ben Hood, would have required mothers (sic) seeking abortions after 27 weeks and 6 days — an extremely rare occurrence — to deliver their babies alive.
After three hours of heated debate, the proposal was voted down by South Australia’s upper house — nine members voted in favour of the bill and 10 against.
But that was only after Liberal MP Michelle Lensink had rushed to parliament at 10pm to vote, despite being on leave for chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, to ensure her vote against the law reform would be counted, after her “pair” (another MP who had promised to vote on her behalf as she would have voted) broke what she believed to be a deal. [Watch “SA Abortion Bill Defeated” at: abc.net.au report]
MP Lensink told the ABC News journalist: “There’s a lot of particularly women who work together, who understand that these are not simple choices that other women make when they go through them, that they’re very challenging. We know people’s circumstances who’ve been through this. So, you know, we work to try and make sure that that is respected and that the parliament understands that these are decisions that people have to make with the advice of their doctors and midwives and they shouldn’t have the parliament sort of sticking its nose in randomly at the most stressful point probably in their entire lives.”
SOURCE: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-17/abortion-legislation-vote-south-australia/104477762
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And in Victoria’s schools, hundreds of child-on-child sex abuse incidents are reported each year
by Jessica Longbottom
An average of six alleged child-on-child sexual abuse incidents are reported to police each week of term in Victorian public schools, according to Freedom-of-Information documents released to ABC.
Half of the abuse incidents occur in primary schools. Experts say more targeted education is needed to address the proliferation of pornography among young people.
Jack told Alex* if he told anyone about what was going on, there’d be trouble. The incidents, at recess and lunch, sometimes multiple times a day, had to remain between them. “He was told it was a game, and that they’d go and play their little game,” Alex’s mother said. Jack would follow Alex to the toilet block, away from teacher’s eyes, and lock them both in a cubicle. It’s there that Alex alleges Jack sexually assaulted him. Alex, petrified of Jack, never told a soul.
This isn’t a historical example of sex abuse, perpetrated by a trusted adult. It allegedly happened recently at a Victorian primary school. And Jack — like Alex — is just 12 years old. “We didn’t even think that sort of thing could happen at primary school,” Alex’s shattered father said. “There’s a lot of guilt there.”
Experts say this is the rising frontier of child sex abuse — committed by children’s peers, and “happening all around us”. University of Melbourne child sexual abuse prevention researcher Gemma McKibbin said the issue was “huge”.
Documents obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws show there were 240 child-on-child sexual abuse incidents reported to police by Victorian government primary schools in 2022 and 2023. More than half of the incidents involved children under 10. On average, that’s three reports of a sexual incident impacting on another student in primary schools every week of term.
ABC News received less detailed data about Victoria’s government high schools, but there were 242 similar incidents reported over 2022 and 2023, also averaging three reports a week.
The landmark Australian Child Maltreatment Study published this year found the number of young people who have been sexually abused by adolescents has grown — and now outnumbers those who have been abused by adults…. [article continues]
SOURCE: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-21/child-sex-abuse-victorian-schools-porn-consent-education-assault/104460602, by Jessica Longbottom, 21 October 2024