Politics: Tony Abbott: An Objectively Grave Matter.

‘An objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother's convenience …Even those who think that abortion is a woman's right should surely be troubled by the fact that 100,000 Australian women choose to destroy their unborn babies every year…’

And with those words spoken at Adelaide University, Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott ignited a debate that many had assumed had already been won by the pro-choice side many years ago. Sure, his figures are way off (Medicare claims for abortion actually went down by 3654 to 72,554 from ’01-02 to 02-’03), but his Catholic moralising has successfully put the abortion debate back on the map.

Terribly, abortion is legal only in South Australia, where it was decriminalised in 1969. In all other states, abortion remains a criminal offence. However, no prosecutions are on record in any state, and the procedure is federally-funded by Medicare. Hence, abortion is practically legal, albeit not judicially.

And thankfully, on a state level, it should remain practically legal, as it is a state matter. All the states and territories boast Labor premiers, and the Labor party is a pro-choice party, as leader Mark Latham thankfully emphasised recently: ‘You've got to respect the right of women to make a choice and you've got to respect the fact that they get expert medical advice from their doctors ‘

The danger inherent in Abbott’s misogynist comments is that – with the full Liberal control of the Senate – the party can legislate its morals by restricting funding to what is essentially a ‘criminal act.’ By abolishing funding for the procedure through Medicare, Abbott and the Liberal party have the potential to restrict abortions to only those who can pay for the procedure from their own wallets.

Do ‘pro-lifers’ like Abbott have a point, morally? Absolutely. Abortion, for most, is a fundamentally shocking act. It clearly offends our sensibilities, and with good reason. As ‘pro-life’ advocates are all too keen to point out, in late-term cases (which are quite rare), abortion does involve dismemberment of the foetus to allow removal. And yes, the deliberate termination of the life of a potential human is confronting. There’s no argument that the procedure is a difficult one for many to come to terms with.

But despite the moral qualms, legal, fully-funded access to the procedure is essential. You may not support the procedure itself, but the support must be there for women having access to act.

It is abhorrent that so many powerful men think it their right to discuss the moral and legal implications of what is essentially a women’s right. To deny women the right to a legal, fully-funded abortion is tantamount to pushing the problem into the back alleys of Australia, leaving the poor and working-class to find solutions to their unwanted pregnancies without the necessary aide of medical professionals.

Abbott can have his fundamentalist Catholic views if he wishes, but he should keep them to himself. The vast majority of Australians support the right to abortion, and to have a the Federal Health Minister openly question that belief in a speech peppered with fallacy after fallacy is a disgrace, and an unsurprising indictment of the moral ineptitude of the Howard government. Abbott has been renowned as a misogynist – and homophobe, for what it’s worth – since his days at Sydney University. What is an ‘objectively grave’ matter is that he’s administering the federal health system.

(Originally published in The Brag in the Fear & Loathing column).

(Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, who is eligible for welfare benefits based solely on ear size).