Adelaide Uni abortion crusader Joanna Howe accuses pro-life Liberal MP Dennis Hood of ‘abject betrayal’
A pro-life MP who honoured a promise in the abortion reforms vote has told how he was morally torn but a 100-year parliamentary convention forced his hand.
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A key architect of the state’s late-term abortion reforms has lashed a Liberal MP she says betrayed the pro-life cause during Wednesday’s dramatic late-night parliamentary sitting.
The controversial reforms were narrowly defeated in the upper house – but only after extraordinary backroom shenanigans that forced an MP battling breast cancer to break her sick leave and make a late-night dash to Parliament House to ensure she could cast the deciding vote.
Dr Joanna Howe, who helped draft the bill that lost 10-9 in a vote just before 10pm on Wednesday, was scathing in response to how the controversial vote unfolded, labelling it an “abject betrayal” by conservative Liberal MP Dennis Hood.
Mr Hood’s vote would have levelled the numbers in the house – and given the deciding vote to the Legislative Council president – had he not agreed to pair with fellow Liberal MP Michelle Lensink.
Ms Lensink, a vocal opponent of the bill that would have forced women to give birth to live babies after 28 weeks, made a late-hour dash to parliament when an earlier pairing arrangement was vacated.
In an emotionally-charged post on Instagram, Dr Howe said it was “devastating to have lost by one vote and to be betrayed by someone who we thought was on our side: Dennis Hood”.
“To be clear: Dennis Hood should never have paired on this vote,” she said.
“It is a conscience vote and there is no requirement to pair.
“It was an abject betrayal – there are no other words. This result is absolutely heartbreaking and South Australian babies in the third trimester will die.”
Mr Hood told The Advertiser he was “disappointed” at Dr Howe’s “strong language” but shared her disappointment at the outcome.
But pairing with Ms Lensink was to honour a promise from when she paired with Mr Hood in April during the conscience vote for prostitution reform in April.
“As a result, I promised her that if she should ever need a pair due to her own illness then I would accommodate her,” he said.
“Last night with just a few minutes before the second reading vote, she called me and asked me if I would honour my promise to her and pair with her.
“Honestly I was reluctant to do so but felt I had to honour my promise to her and I did.
“It’s important to note that the outcomes of the vote last night was not changed by this because Michelle was in fact in an Uber heading to the parliament when she called me as she was determined for her vote to be recorded against the bill at the third reading.
“This meant that the bill would have been defeated last night and the writing was on the wall.”
Mr Hood said he’d had a “civil” conversation with Dr Howe on Thursday, and his pairing with Ms Lensink was “absolutely not” an “abject betrayal”.
“It was honouring a longstanding more than 100-year convention of our parliament for a member of my party who is being treated with chemo because she is suffering from life-threatening cancer,” he said.
Greens co-leader Robert Simms called the attack on Mr Hood “deeply unfair”.
“Dennis Hood’s views on this issue of abortion are well known. In offering a pair to his colleague, Dennis showed great moral leadership and demonstrated that he’s a person of high integrity,” Mr Simms said.
“The real criticism should be levelled at those who sought to politicise a basic pairing arrangement in this way. These nasty tactics should have no place in SA.”
It is understood Ms Lensink had been originally “paired” with fellow Liberal Jing Lee, who spoke in favour of the bill during the debate.
Under pairing arrangements, when an MP is on leave another MP with opposing views will agree to sit out the vote, ensuring the absence does not affect the final result.
However, several MPs told The Advertiser that Ms Lee suddenly opted out of the pair arrangement after the dinner break, which would have levelled the vote at 10-10 and given Legislative Council President Terry Stephens – a conservative Liberal – the deciding vote.
As Ms Lensink tried to make her way to parliament and find another MP willing to pair, a Labor MP pulled the classic delaying tactic of a filibuster.
Dr Howe condemned the emotionally charged scenes inside and outside the chamber in the lead-up to the vote, saying she was “disgusted” at the behaviour of some MPs.
Dr Howe thanked the nine MPs who backed the reforms: Ben Hood, Nicola Centofanti, Sarah Game, Heidi Girolamo, Laura Henderson, Jing Lee, Tung Ngo, Frank Pangallo and Clare Scriven.
“South Australia are now waking up to the gruesome reality of abortion up to birth in our state,” she said.
“We have achieved a huge amount in just two weeks and so we know this is not the end but just the beginning.”
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