Reducing Abortions
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
14 Sep 2008
Abortion performed for any reason and at any stage of pregnancy is always the tragic and unjust taking of innocent human life.
Lovers of life and all main line Christians work towards and pray for the day when greater respect for human life and greater support for pregnant women and their families will see an end to all abortions. Majority opinion in Australia is conflicted because most Australians believe we have too many abortions and are disturbed by this, while also accepting a woman’s right to abortion. The majority want the numbers reduced.
Therefore, we realise that any reduction in the number of abortions would be an improvement.
I welcome Senator Guy Barnett’s motion, which will be debated in the Senate this week, to disallow Medicare funding of second trimester abortions. This is a small but significant step towards reducing the number of fetal deaths by abortion and the emotional harm that many women experience after abortion.
The second trimester covers from 14 to 26 weeks of pregnancy. Recent medical advances have led to an improvement in fetal viability so that infants born as early as 21 weeks have survived. Fetal surgery has also been successfully performed on unborn babies as early as 21 weeks of pregnancy.
Medicare pays for these abortions under the heading of “Management of second trimester labour”. This is interpreted to cover both brutal partial birth abortion, which is banned in the United States, as well as the induction of labour in which many babies are actually delivered alive and simply left to die. This was the terrible fate of forty-seven unborn children who were aborted after 20 weeks in Victoria in 2005.
Senator Barnett’s motion would stop taxpayer Medicare funding of second trimester abortions in private abortion facilities, whilst ensuring that women, whose unborn child dies from natural causes in utero continue to receive appropriate assistance. Nearly 70% of Australians would support these measures.
The motion would also constrain abortionists from loosely interpreting “life threatening maternal diseases” to include psychological and social reasons for abortion, which often means simply abortion on request. More than half of all post-20 week abortions in Victoria in 2005 were performed for such reasons. Interestingly, we were unable to get any information from the Department of Health on the number of abortions and the reasons for them in New South Wales.
Additionally, Senator Barnett’s motion would remove Medicare funding for abortions performed because the foetal child is missing fingers or toes, or has a correctable condition such as a cleft palate or hare lip. This would be another small but significant step towards eliminating discrimination against the unborn on the grounds of disability.
Late term abortion is an especially inhumane response to the very human dilemma of a difficult or unexpected pregnancy. The humanity of these unborn children is beyond doubt. Our inhumane tolerance of such practices is chilling.
