No consensus to change Queensland abortion law, but strong support for safeguards for women

We know that the vast majority of abortions (an estimated 97%, judging by South Australian Government statistics) are performed for financial or social reasons, not for medical reasons.

So even in the first three months of pregnancy, support for abortion is highly conditional.

These figures indicate a significant level of uneasiness with what decriminalisation would mean, even among those who say they support it.

While there is clearly no consensus to change the actual law on abortion, Queenslanders overwhelmingly want safeguards introduced to protect women.

Almost everyone (94%) believes that before having an abortion a woman should receive free independent counselling and information on the development of her unborn child, the nature of the procedure, the physical and psychological risks of the operation and the alternatives of keeping the child or adoption, so that she can make a fully informed decision.

A total of 88% of Queenslanders support a cooling-off period of several days between making an appointment to have an abortion and the actual operation and 86% support a parental consent requirement for girls under the age of 16.

Also, 86% of Queenslanders support conscientious objection provisions allowing doctors and nurses to opt out of having to perform abortion operations against their will.

If such safeguards were introduced in Queensland, the number of abortions would be significantly reduced. Certainly in 2003 when the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide introduced mandatory independent counselling for women before having an abortion, the number of abortions over the next 12 months fell by 25% (“Advice Curbs Terminations”, Sunday Mail - Adelaide - 25 July 2004).

But the extreme ideologues in Emily's List, a pro-abortion women's group within the ALP, are against the introduction of informed consent requirements to protect and support women. They abolished them in the ACT in 2002 and voted against them in Victoria in 2008 - unmasking themselves as pro-abortion rather than pro-choice. There is only one choice as far as they are concerned.

This research report was delivered to the 89 members of state parliament last month and no doubt they would have been particularly interested in the response to the last question in the poll, which asked “If your local member of parliament voted in favor of decriminalising abortion, would this influence the way you vote at the next state election?”

A total of 55% of Queenslanders said it would not influence the way they vote, but 26% said they would be less likely to vote for their MP if he or she voted to decriminalise abortion, while 14% said they would be more likely to vote for their MP in that case.

This means that members of parliament who may vote to decriminalise abortion in the event of a private member's bill being debated would face an average potential swing of 12% against them at the next election.