Senator Stott Despoja's recent performance in the Senate in support of a Democrat Notice of Motion on the Millenium Development Goals which could have been interpreted as calling for universal abortion on demand was all bluff and bluster."Bring on the fight guys" she said. That would be right. A couple of hapless blokes in the Senate. She would never take on the pro life movement top heavy as it is with women.While she is grandstanding in the Senate branding her opponents as "anachronistic,outdated,conservative people ....who will deny women their rights and indeed will not put forward positive ways of alleviating poverty,death,disease,HIV," pro lifers are doing just that. Dr.Miriam Duggan,an Irish MedicalMissionary and founder of the South African movement Youth Alive has led successful AIDS prevention programs in Uganda. Canadian Dr.Robert Walley runs
MaterCare International specialising in fistula repair hospitals and improved obstetric services.

Third World women are not dying for want of access to abortion. They are dying for want of access to proper obstetric care. They have to walk too far in labour to get it. And for want of cheap vaccines, clean water and food in their bellies. Man and all a he is, Senator Boswell is right when he says:"It is not right for affluent Australians to use international poverty as a way to implement their particular social agenda on abortion ....the democrats wanted to use the world's poor to make political capital over abortion"

Denny

I've just checked the West Australian Yellow Pages directory on this subject. It's obvious what entries under the heading "Pregnancy Termination Services" are likely to offer [within legal guidelines]. But how about "Pregnancy Counselling & Related Services"?

Some entries, to their credit, are obviously pro-life or pro-choice. But several of them give no indication whatsoever. I would strongly suspect that at least some of these are the people who cannot offer a full range of legal options, but prefer to mislead potential clients by not saying so.

People who are considering using such a counselling service deserve to know if a full range of options will be discussed, in a balanced, non-judgemental manner, before they actually make an appointment.

Public opinion surveys have been criticised as unreliable. This depends on how the surveys are run. Short of a public referendum, with an extensive and widely publicised preamble, [which we're not going to get], what is reliable? Surely not some interpretation of scripture

I looked up Senator Stott Despoja’s bill. You can find it on the Parliament website here: http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/browse.aspx?NodeID=52

The Bill says “Telephone carriage service providers providing alphabetical public number directories in accordance with clause 9 of the Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997 may only include non-directive pregnancy counselling services on the 24 hour health and help call pages of each alphabetical public number directory.”

“Non-directive” service providers are only those ones willing to send clients for an abortion. So if you’re not willing to be involved in abortions, you don’t get listed. Who’s being misleading Senator?

Pregnancy counsellors should clearly state their moral leanings either for, against or either, in the best interest of a vulnerable person having to make a difficult choice.
Having said that, I have my own beliefs on abortion, and one of them is not to get all authorative on the subject as its a decision I'll never have to make on account of my gender.
It does disturb me that this serious issue is run by private enterprise, which by nature has profit as its fundamental objective.
I'm being sincere when I say I hope I havent upset anybody who's had to go through this process.

Rex
Your argument is flawed. You are not free from the same views you force onto others.
In fact you show yourself to have the same totalitarian views you despise in others. How can you consider your views have more rights than others in the Australian community?

You claim the religious right carefully “frustrate the laws of Australia and force their unproven and unprovable religious based views on the rest of the Australian population.”
Don’t you, as an even handed sort of chap, think all Australians have an equal place in our democratic political system?

You criticise abortion counsellors for not warning prospective mothers of their bias in helping them, you accuse them of the treachery of [quote] "The end justifying the means", a concept beloved by totalitarian regimes and anyone else who wishes to frustrate democracy. [unquote]

Clearly you value democracy by your two quotes above and it seems you have a healthy disrespect for the bible. I think that would be a fair assessment so far?
But you then also quote the bible, “Do not bear false witness”, to make your case against the religious people you do not think should take a part in our democracy you prize so much.

Now isn’t that, [quote] "The end justifying the means", a concept beloved by totalitarian regimes and anyone else who wishes to frustrate democracy. [unquote] to quote you?

Horrors! your worst fears have come upon you, you are behaving as a totalitarian. Was it Orwells "Animal Farm" that said, "All people are equal, its just that some are more equal than others".
Its hard to make laws gaining freedom, you extend your rights and extinguish others.
In light of this I ask again, "Why should you with flawed thinking and arguing be preferred for making laws on abortion over Christians?"

Freda,
My interpretation of the entry in Senator Stott Despoja's bill that you question is that "Non-directive" service providers are those that provide information on all possible and legal choices during pregnancy counselling. Such service providers also do not guide or mislead the client against certain options or towards other options based on the counsellor's philosophical grounds. That is they are neutral and not "directive".

It seems reasonable to expect a pregnancy counsellor to present all possible legal choices to people that need unbiased, medically sound advice, including but not limited to, pregnancy continuation and child rearing, abortion, adoption and all the issues that relate to these.