Women's Electoral Lobby (Australia) Inc. representing the interests of Australian women in maintaining the right to choose
Abortion is a world-wide phenomenon and has been used as a primary method of birth control for all of human history. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in three pregnancies is deliberately terminated world-wide. Many of these abortions are carried out in unsafe circumstances and lead to substantial rates of death and injury to women.
Major changes in rates of abortion only occur when reliable contraception becomes available.
Moves in the last century in the United Kingdom to restrict access to abortion were based both on a concern for the welfare of women at a time when abortion was a dangerous intervention, and an attempt at the same time to control women's sexuality. Access to legal abortion was denied but this only forced women into illegal and unsafe services, leading to injury and death.
Abortion today is the second most common therapeutic surgical procedure in Australia. Yet it remains marginalised by health services, and is not formally part of medical curricula.
WEL asserts that women's right to choose abortion may be inferred from several articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Article 12 requires signatories to ensure "access to health care services, including those related to family planning". There can be no doubt that abortion is related to family planning.
The United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) recognised abortion as a major public health issue and governments agreed to take action to reduce the harm caused.
The UN Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) confirmed this approach. Along with many other Governments, Australia agreed to "Consider reviewing laws containing punitive measures against women who have undergone illegal abortions" (par 107k). WEL has urged the Government to act on this undertaking by removing abortion from all criminal codes in Australia.
The right of access to abortion enjoys a high level of community support which has risen since the mid 1980s. In 1994, 85% approved abortion if the woman's life were endangered; 70% accepted abortion as a right if the woman is not married and does not want to marry; 67% supported abortion in circumstances of low income where a family cannot afford more children. In all cases, these rates of approval were significantly up from ten years previously, showing increasing community acceptance of the need for abortion services.
In 1980, a survey conducted by the Women's Weekly magazine asserted that "The Voice of the Australian Women says: Abortion should be freely available". Their survey showed 94% of women were in favour of abortion being available. Sixteen per cent of the women surveyed said they had had an abortion, and contrary to popular belief, the majority of women said they suffered no after effects. WEL sent a copy of the magazine to all Victorian State politicians, pointing out the strength of women's support for safe, legal abortion services.
Based on statistics like these, WEL urges politicians to accept the following messages:
Page created 01 October 1996; last updated 21 June 1999