HEY! prochoice aussies
catefrances
Posts: 29,003
got the following in my inbox.
'I ask you, on behalf of this young couple, to put an end to the nightmare they have had to go through.' Kevin McCreanor, Barrister
This was the plea from Tegan & Sergie's lawyer to the jury debating whether or not to convict them for attempting to have an abortion.
Just hours ago, a jury rejected the case, delivering a verdict of "not guilty". Yet most Australians have no idea that abortion is still a crime in some states due to outdated laws that our politicians have lacked the courage to change. No woman should have to endure a criminal trial, face 7 years imprisonment, or be treated like a criminal in the first place for making a personal decision. But if politicians don't change these laws, abortion will remain a crime.
Already this week, a petition signed by GetUp members has hit 50,000! We can't let Tegan's "nightmare" experience be for nothing. That's why it's time to ask our politicians, via a nationally televised advertising campaign: 'when will you stop treating women like criminals?'
Click here to see our hard-hitting TV ad.
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Change ... 01,94264,2
We can change these laws if we act now. Politicians say they agree with overturning archaic laws that classify abortion as a crime, but for decades they've failed to act. With Tegan's verdict guaranteed to result in national headlines, politicians will be forced to make a decision. Journalists all over the country are about to ask them whether they'll change the law, and they're formulating their responses right now.
Lets make sure they know that our television advertising campaign will be huge!
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ChangeTheLaw
Just this morning we heard from Queensland sources that a group of extreme conservatives are placing thousands of calls to politicians and talkback radio in an attempt to ensure the law isn't changed. It's up to us to make sure the momentum from this court decision results in these outdated laws being removed from the rule books. That's why it's crucial that we get our message on the airwaves in the next 48 hours.
Our TV ad asks politicians one simple, powerful question - click here to view it now.
We owe it to Tegan - and all the other ordinary women who could be treated like criminals - to make this an issue so large that our politicians have no choice but to abolish these offensive laws.
Together, we can change this,
The GetUp team.
P.S. Campaigners who've been fighting this issue for decades rang us this afternoon to tell us they've never been able to find the money for a national television advertising campaign. With your help, we'll make this powerful ad Australia's first nationally televised campaign supporting the decriminalisation of a woman's right to choose.
'I ask you, on behalf of this young couple, to put an end to the nightmare they have had to go through.' Kevin McCreanor, Barrister
This was the plea from Tegan & Sergie's lawyer to the jury debating whether or not to convict them for attempting to have an abortion.
Just hours ago, a jury rejected the case, delivering a verdict of "not guilty". Yet most Australians have no idea that abortion is still a crime in some states due to outdated laws that our politicians have lacked the courage to change. No woman should have to endure a criminal trial, face 7 years imprisonment, or be treated like a criminal in the first place for making a personal decision. But if politicians don't change these laws, abortion will remain a crime.
Already this week, a petition signed by GetUp members has hit 50,000! We can't let Tegan's "nightmare" experience be for nothing. That's why it's time to ask our politicians, via a nationally televised advertising campaign: 'when will you stop treating women like criminals?'
Click here to see our hard-hitting TV ad.
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Change ... 01,94264,2
We can change these laws if we act now. Politicians say they agree with overturning archaic laws that classify abortion as a crime, but for decades they've failed to act. With Tegan's verdict guaranteed to result in national headlines, politicians will be forced to make a decision. Journalists all over the country are about to ask them whether they'll change the law, and they're formulating their responses right now.
Lets make sure they know that our television advertising campaign will be huge!
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ChangeTheLaw
Just this morning we heard from Queensland sources that a group of extreme conservatives are placing thousands of calls to politicians and talkback radio in an attempt to ensure the law isn't changed. It's up to us to make sure the momentum from this court decision results in these outdated laws being removed from the rule books. That's why it's crucial that we get our message on the airwaves in the next 48 hours.
Our TV ad asks politicians one simple, powerful question - click here to view it now.
We owe it to Tegan - and all the other ordinary women who could be treated like criminals - to make this an issue so large that our politicians have no choice but to abolish these offensive laws.
Together, we can change this,
The GetUp team.
P.S. Campaigners who've been fighting this issue for decades rang us this afternoon to tell us they've never been able to find the money for a national television advertising campaign. With your help, we'll make this powerful ad Australia's first nationally televised campaign supporting the decriminalisation of a woman's right to choose.
hear my name
take a good look
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hold my hand
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i just need to say
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
the woman was charged under an archaic 111 year old law that classifies abortion as a criminal 'offence against morality'.
this case is in the state of queensland and their current premier anna bligh, said that while shed support a bill to repeal the laws, but won't introduce one herself. she says there isn't enough support. which basically means she hasnt got the guts to stand by her convictions. either that or shes playing both sides.
the individual states of australia enforce their own laws so long as those laws do not infringe upon the federal constitution. if that state law infringes upon the federal law then the former becomes invalid.
you have to remember that prior to 1901 australia was made up of 6 individual colonies. there was no way they were going to give up all their autonomy...even for the sake of the new nation.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
It's pretty much the same here, but here the constitution is interpreted as granting women the right to make such medical decisions privately. I haven't read the Australian constitution. Is is different?
ours lays out the role and powers of the government and judicature. we have no bill of rights and alterations to the constitution can only be made through a referendum of the people. then of course it has to be presented to the monarch for assent. :roll: so even if our politicians vote in agreeance and the people are all for it it ultimately comes down to what many of us consider a foreign head of state. we need to fix that part.
take a good look
this could be the day
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Pro-choice advocates have welcomed the acquittal of a Cairns couple charged over a home abortion and have called on the Queensland government to reform the law.
A Cairns jury on Thursday took less than an hour to find Tegan Simone Leach, 21, and her partner Sergie Brennan, 22, not guilty of charges of procuring an abortion and supplying drugs to procure an abortion.
The verdict, which followed a three-day trial, was greeted with cheers and applause from the public gallery while a teary Ms Leach hugged her legal team and family members.
Pro-choice campaigner Caroline de Costa said she was delighted with the jury's verdict and called on the Queensland parliament to reform the law so no one is ever charged with the offence again.
"This sends a very strong message about what the people of Queensland feel about the abortion laws," Dr de Costa told reporters outside court.
"This law was written in 1899, it is no longer relevant to the practice of abortion in 2010 or what the general pubic think."
Under Queensland law, abortion is illegal except to protect the mother's life or her physical or mental wellbeing.
Abortion drugs RU486 and Misoprostol are legally available in Queensland but their use is heavily restricted.
Ms Leach and Mr Brennan are the first people ever to be charged with the offence in Queensland.
Premier Anna Bligh is in favour of reforms but has refused to allow a private member's bill because it won't get the numbers.
"I support decriminalisation of abortion, but the majority of MPs do not (and) law change requires that majority," Ms Bligh said on Twitter on Thursday.
"No doubt this has been a traumatic experience for this young couple and the verdict today will be a great relief to them," she added later in a statement.
Attorney-General Cameron Dick said a conscience vote on decriminalisation would be risky, and could even see women's access to abortions tightened.
"It's quite possible any such bill could be amended in the parliament to make these services less accessible, and that is the last thing we want to see happen," Mr Dick said in a statement.
Community advocacy organisation GetUp! has a petition with 50,000 signatures to have the laws removed.
National director Simon Sheikh alleges some Queensland hospitals are even refusing abortions to women whose pregnancy is a result of a sexual assault.
Cherish Life Queensland president Teresa Martin said the group would lobby MPs to maintain the current law.
Ms Martin said pregnant women who did not want to keep their child should be aware they had other options such as adoption.
"We don't believe that abortion ever helps a situation, it does harm, it harms physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally," she said.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
I was unaware of this as well... :shock: