The pro-life lobby has slammed the Labor Government’s Termination of Pregnancy Bill which was tabled in the Queensland Parliament today as being brutal, extreme, worse than the Pyne Bills and almost a mirror image of Victoria’s abortion law - one of the most brutal in the Western world.
Executive director of Cherish Life Queensland, Ms Teeshan Johnson, said: “These cruel abortion-to-birth laws are worse than the Pyne Bills and almost a mirror image of the Victorian abortion law which is one of the worst in the Western world.
“The Labor Government in pushing to legalise late-term abortion has not considered voters’ opinions, particularly women. Recent YouGov Galaxy polling shows that only 6% of Queenslanders agree with late-term abortion, and only 3% of women.
“The Bill if passed would also legalise sex-selective abortion, an obscene form of discrimination against females which is already happening in Victoria. The Bill is as discriminatory against females as it is brutal against the unborn.
“Those in the Labor Party advocating this are in the tiny minority of Queenslanders who agree with late-term abortion and sex-selective abortion.
“The Bill is unnecessary as abortion is already very accessible in Queensland, with 14,000 terminations a year under the current law.”
Highlights of Galaxy poll results below
Voters strongly oppose late-term abortion – When asked, Up to what stage of pregnancy would you allow abortion, only 6% of Queenslanders said after 23 weeks. Just 3% of Queensland women support abortion up to birth, compared with 10% of men. When asked specifically whether they supported the provision in the Trad Labor Bill to legalise abortion from 22 weeks to birth, under a number of criteria including “social circumstances”, 62% said No. This included 70% of women and 54% of men. Just 22% of Queensland voters support this provision in the Bill.
Voters overwhelmingly reject sex-selective abortions – 83% of voters oppose sex- selective abortions. Only 8% support this practice, in which unborn babies are killed for the “crime” of being a girl. Just 5% of women support this, compared with 11% of men. This question is relevant because sex-selective abortions will be legalised under the Trad Labor Bill as abortion on request for any reason before 22 weeks means exactly that, as does abortion for “social” reasons past 22 weeks.
Voters will change their vote on this issue – supporting the Bill would be more likely to cost votes (39%) than be a vote winner (15%). 43% of females say they would be less likely to vote for a MP who supported the Bill, compared with 35% of males. This indicates a potential average swing of 13% against pro-abortion MPs.
The online poll of 1,000 Queensland voters, conducted from 6 to 8 August by independent market research firm YouGov Galaxy for Cherish Life Queensland and the Australian Family Association, asked 21 questions to a random sample on proposed changes to abortion laws.