Thursday 21 August 2008

Archbishop Hart has spoken out strongly today against the Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 and the proposal to decriminalise abortion.

"Treating abortion as an ordinary medical procedure deprives the unborn, our most vulnerable human beings, of the legal protection which the law should afford them. An abortion is not like any other medical procedure and any attempt to treat it as such should be opposed both for the sake of the unborn and for the sake of women who may be pressured to have an abortion," the Archbishop said.

"Abortion, understood as the intentional destruction of the unborn child in the womb, is always wrong and unjust. The unborn child is a human being entitled to the protection of the law no less than any of us. Every attempt to harm an innocent human person violates principles of justice and is always wrong. There are many alternatives to the death and destruction cultivated by the Bill. The welfare of mothers and families should be a first priority in the formation of public policy.

"The Bill fails the objectives set for it by the government. It does not reflect current clinical practice and community standards and also fails to provide legal certainty to women or medical practitioners and should be opposed.

"The Bill does nothing to reduce the incidence of abortion," he said. The Bill permits all abortions upto 24 weeks if performed by a medical practitioner.

"While the Victorian Law Reform Commission found that less than 1% of abortions are performed after 20 weeks gestation, the Bill - in allowing abortions up to 24 weeks pregnancy, increases the possibility of a much larger number of abortions occurring when a substantial majority of the community want a reduction in the number of abortions.

"It places restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks which are bound to be ineffective. The restrictions imposed after 24 weeks will deter no-one; no doctor ever needs fear prosecution," the Archbishop said.

The Bill permits pharmacists and nurses to supply or administer drugs to women upto 24 weeks of pregnancy, without the supervision of a medical practitioner.

The Archbishop said, "The so called ‘conscientious objection clauses’ are a totally unacceptable interference in the freedom of those doctors and nurses who refuse to take part in, or sanction, the deliberate destruction of human life. In certain circumstances it compels doctors to do the very thing to which they conscientiously object, namely the killing of an unborn child. The Bill is a clear breach of the human rights of doctors and nurses forcing them to act against conscientiously held moral, cultural or religious beliefs."

Archbishop Hart called on the community to choose life and reject abortion.