THOUSANDS of Gippslanders have signed a petition supporting a move to prevent currently legal late-term abortions in Victoria.
The Infant Viability Bill, introduced into the Legislative Council by Western Metropolitan DLP member Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins, seeks to stop abortions past 24 weeks of pregnancy and is set to be debated in parliament on May 25.
The bill has the support of Gippsland pro-life group Action for Life spokesperson Marianne Bagguley.
“We are concerned that many Victorians simply don’t know how extreme our current abortion laws are and without this information they are disempowered,” she said.
“Abortions are legal up until the moment of birth. There are women in crisis pregnancy making decisions without all the information or options available to them.
“Mothers are often not given information to enable them to fully understand all the implications of a late-term abortion.
“This is out of step with community views and a tragedy for everyone involved the babies, the mothers and the families,” she said.
“In Victoria we have the confronting situation where babies are being born at 23 weeks and surviving outside the womb, while others are being aborted at the same gestation or even later,” Mrs Bagguley said.
Action for Life and other supporters are urging local MPs to support the Bill and promote what they see as more humane laws that reflect community expectations on life and provide women in crisis pregnancy with better access to information, options and support available to them.
