Liberals Target ACT WomenHumphries Lets The Cat Out Of The Bag On AbortionWayne Berry - Member for GinninderraMedia Statement - 26 April 2000A statement from Gary Humphries on ACT abortion law has exposed his real aim in implementing new laws in the ACT. "It is now clear that Mr Humphries is trying to force ACT women interstate if they need an abortion," Wayne Berry said today. Gary Humphries' view on interstate abortions for ACT women:
ACT abortion laws were changed by Paul Osborne in 1998 in an attempt to restrict a woman's right to choose. Liberal Ministers Gary Humphries and Brendan Smyth further amended the law in 1999 in an attempt to force ACT women to look at foetal pictures - a move opposed by the expert panel set up under the Act which expressed the view that such action could be counterproductive. "Gary Humphries has now let the cat out of the bag. "The real agenda of the Attorney General and the ACT Liberals is now exposed. They want us to go back to the bad old days when up to 1600 ACT women were forced to travel interstate when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Mr Berry said, "I repealed the ACT's draconian abortion law in 1992. This allowed me to set up a clinic so that thousands of ACT women would not be forced to travel interstate for an abortion. Humphries and his fellow Liberals are trying to take us back to the bad old days. "Gary Humphries is entitled to hold his views but not to impose them on women in the ACT," Mr Berry concluded. |