‘My body, my choice’: unions rally on abortion rights
Savannah Meacham and Fraser Barton |
Union members, nurses, teachers and workers have rallied in a bid to head off any prospect of changes to reproductive rights if there’s a change of government at the Queensland election.
Queensland Unions General Secretary Jacqueline King led the speeches at the 100-strong Brisbane CBD rally attacking members of the Liberal National Party opposition over their views on abortion.
Ms King said women’s reproductive rights would be at risk under an LNP government because the majority of sitting MPs have previously voted against abortion rights.
Voluntary assisted dying laws could also change, Ms King claimed.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli’s party leads the opinion polls less than a month out from election day on October 26, which could result in a Labor wipeout.
“There will be pressure upon him, in terms of a whole range of those arch-conservatives that are in the LNP, to make these a first-term government issue,” Ms King told AAP.
“And if they’re not, they’ve got private members bills that they can pursue.
“We know that on this issue of abortion, 80 per cent of them voted to keep abortion a crime in Queensland, so we can expect to see more.”
Mr Crisafulli has vehemently ruled out reviewing the relevant legislation in the first term of his government, if elected.
“We’ve said it’s not part of our plan,” he told Channel 10.
But the LNP didn’t support abortion rights after voting against a decriminalisation bill in 2018 and went to the 2020 election pledging to review the laws.
The union has launched a petition demanding Mr Crisafulli commit to maintaining free and equal access to termination of pregnancy services and abortion drugs, if elected.
“This is a fundamental human rights issue, vital to generations of future Queensland women and girls,” Ms King said.
Some LNP candidates have been revealed as anti-abortion, including former senator Amanda Stoker who is running in Oodgeroo and Susanna Damianopoulos in Springwood.
In 2016, during a state inquiry into abortion law reform, Ms Damianopoulos made a submission opposing decriminalisation but said she was committed to following the party line.
“I have my own views, but I respect the views of others,” she said on Thursday.
“Our leader, David Crisafulli, has been very clear on what the first term LNP government will do in that space, and I respect his views,” she said.
Debate over reproductive rights is not limited to Queensland.
Earlier this week, a South Australian conservative MP introduced a private member’s bill in the SA upper house to amend laws to force people who want to terminate their pregnancy after 28 weeks to deliver their babies alive.
Under SA laws passed in 2021, a pregnant person can access a late-term abortion after 22 weeks and six days if medically safe and with the approval of two doctors.
AAP has requested comment from Mr Crisafulli’s office about the union’s claims.
AAP