Thursday, 12 May 2022

Women’s reproductive rights

Ms HALL (Footscray) (10:20): In recent weeks we have witnessed scenes in the United States that have sent shock waves around the world, with the very real scenario that girls in the US may inherit fewer fundamental reproductive rights than those of their grandmothers. The stacking of the Supreme Court with conservative judges means that an ideological war over reproductive health rights and the access to safe and affordable abortion may be at risk with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Ruth Bader Ginsberg once commented that:

The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.

The United States is a good example of the damage of unsafe abortion. The rate of abortion-related deaths decreased by 85 per cent in the five years following Roe v. Wade. We might feel like we are a long way from the US— (Time expired)