After more than three hours’ debate in the South Australian Legislative Council, the Hon Ben Hood MLC’s amendment to South Australian abortion laws failed to pass to the House of Assembly by a single vote. Citing this as a “devastating outcome”, Ashlyn Vice, SA Director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), says Mr Hood’s Termination of Pregnancy Amendment (Terminations and Live Births) Bill was a “no-nonsense, compelling proposition to change the process of terminations post 28-weeks’ gestation – offering a pro-woman, pro-child compromise”. “Tonight’s result means more South Australian babies will be needlessly born dead when they could have been safely born alive” Vice says. “If passed, this Bill would have ensured babies in their third trimester would be born alive by inducing an early labour in circumstances where the mother insists on ending the pregnancy. This was to replace current practice, which is to kill the baby via a lethal potassium chloride injection before inducing labour.” Vice says.
Current SA Health practice guidelines indicate babies born at 28 weeks have a 96% chance of surviving outside the womb. “According to the Health Minister Chris Picton’s statement, up to five babies have been killed via extreme late-term feticide since our abortion-to-birth laws in mid-2022 came into effect. Feticide is not a process used to save the life of a mother, and under current laws, is available for psychosocial reasons.” Vice says “Arguments against this Bill simply don’t stand up to scrutiny. They are built on fallacies and promote a view that it is more ethical to give seven-month-old in-utero babies a 0% chance of survival than a 96% chance.” “Tonight, members of our Parliament were presented with a real opportunity to save human lives. They rejected that opportunity – it’s as simple as that” “Our Parliament has kowtowed to the pro-death lobby and has failed to recognise the humanity of fully formed, healthy babies just weeks away from their due date”
The ACL thanks the Hon Ben Hood MLC for bringing this important motion and for standing his ground despite criticisms. The ACL also thanks Members who spoke in favour of the Bill: the Hon Dennis Hood MLC, Hon Nicola Centofanti MLC, Hon Sarah Game MLC, Hon Heidi Girolamo MLC, Hon Jing Lee MLC, Hon Laura Henderson MLC, Hon Clare Scriven MLC, and Hon Frank Pangallo MLC. “South Australians are gutted. Around 2,000 people showed up on the steps of Parliament this week in a second public rally to support the Bill.” Vice says. “The ACL is urging the South Australian Government to answer this simple question when it comes to the abortion of fully formed babies: ‘Why must the baby die?’. To date, no medical advice has been able to answer this simple question.”
Source: Australian Christian Lobby
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