This is a draconian bill right out of character with what one would expect in a liberal democracy like Australia. Even if one is "pro-choice" one should, in my view, demand that restrictions on freedom of speech should not be tolerated. Freedom of speech and expression is fundamental to a free society. One has to recognize that some people will state facts or propositions that one finds anathema. Unwelcome as such expressions may be to some individuals it is essential that we all recognize that we censor such expressions at our peril. Eventually the people in authority, whether far right or far left, will use legislation of this character to stifle all dissent.

Well said Gadfly42!!

david f said: "Incitement [to violence] and harassment is a crime under English common law. Women who decide to have an abortion should be free from incitement and harassment. Those who hang around abortion clinics are inciting and harassing..."

Read the horrendous Tasmanian draft abortion law again, david f. A mere "protest" against the violence of killing of an unborn baby would be punishable by a huge fine and/or a year in jail. I could be arrested for standing 149 metres from an abortion facility, silently praying and holding a sign saying "Jesus loves you and your baby".

And if a woman approaching the abortion facility stopped to ask if I could help her because her boyfriend was pressuring her to abort her baby, and I gave her an information leaflet that referred her to pregnancy support but not abortion, I could be arrested and fined a huge amount for that "crime" too.

I would be interested to know if david f believes Greens supporters who harass and booby-trap legal loggers should face fines of up to $65,000 and a year in jail.

Sadly, hypocrisy features hugely in this debate.

>>A mere "protest" against the violence of killing of an unborn baby would be punishable by a huge fine and/or a year in jail. I could be arrested for standing 149 metres from an abortion facility, silently praying and holding a sign saying "Jesus loves you and your baby".<<

A mere "protest" against the violence of killing of an unborn baby would not be punishable by a huge fine and/or a year in jail. You could not be arrested for standing 151 metres from an abortion facility, silently praying and holding a sign saying "Jesus loves you and your baby". He doesn't BTW - if Jesus loved babies so much he wouldn't cause all that stillbirth and cot death. Apparently Jesus really hates babies.

Are you an idiot or do you just have some strange martyr complex? Just take two bloody steps to the right - if you can manage to get any further right. Lo and behold, your protest is now completely legal. You can pray and annoy women all day long and you can't get arrested for it. What on earth are you whingeing about?

>>I would be interested to know if david f believes Greens supporters who harass and booby-trap legal loggers should face fines of up to $65,000 and a year in jail.<<

If there is booby-trapping involved then $65,000 and a year in jail is too weak a sentence. That and a week in stocks and some electro-convulsive 're-education'. That'll teach the filthy hippies.

Cheers,

Tony

I have never read more of a rubbish article on this site before.
Where are the legitimate links to all these 'studies' that prove a link between abortion and breast cancer? Links that didn't involve the Catholic Church that is...

Upon looking further into the author's background, I knew I didn't have to go far to find the holy catholic link.

Linking abortion to breast cancer is a bit of a stretch, even for the pro life lot.
There are so many unknown reasons for breast cancer, and I am alarmed that the pro life people feel the need to spread these lies to further their cause.

What of all the poor women who died from breast cancer, despite having had multiple children and never having had an abortion? My two sister-in-laws for a start.

Breast cancer is bad enough without religious crackpots suggesting they must have had an abortion at some time in their past, and were now being 'punished' with breast cancer.
Even if they did, what the hell business of anyone else is that?

Gadfly42 wrote; "Even if one is "pro-choice" one should, in my view, demand that restrictions on freedom of speech should not be tolerated. "

Well, there are already limitations on freedom of speech that I'm sure you are probably in favour of. The law prohibiting telemarketers from calling you if you are on the do-not-call register comes to mind. Just as we have been granted the right to enjoy not to be disturbed by telemarketers (who would like to exercise their right to free speech), women entering a termination clinic also have the right to do so without intimidation or harrassment by those who are determined to stop her by any means. Whether by displaying posters of bloodied fetuses, by passive agressive "praying" on the doorstep, or by offering unwanted "advice".