Kathryn Bermingham: The event was held by a group that describes abortion as violence against women and children

The opposition leader is not the only one who needs to explain why he signed up for an anti-abortion group’s controversial “training day”, writes Kathryn Bermingham.

If you were left wondering why thousands felt the need to march through the Adelaide CBD to protest a court ruling that happened half a world away, take a look at our state parliament.

It’s unfathomable that in a first-world country like the US, the Supreme Court would vote to overturn Roe v Wade – quashing the constitutional right to an abortion and setting women’s rights back decades.

Fortunately, Australians are not at risk of having our access to abortions taken away.

But, at a time when many Australian women are upset and confused at the situation overseas, you have to wonder why six sitting MPs agreed to proceed as “mentors and panellists” at a “youth training day” held by the pro-life organisation Enid Lyons List.

Those MPs were Opposition Leader David Speirs, along with fellow Liberals Nicola Centofanti, Heidi Girolamo and Dennis Hood, Labor Minister Clare Scriven and SA-Best MLC Frank Pangallo.

Opposition leader David Speirs. Picture: Tom Huntley

Dame Enid Lyons.

A screenshot of the Enid Lyons List website.

Others, including Tom Koutsantonis, Andrea Michaels and Michael Brown and Tung Ngo, attended an awards ceremony in March that was hosted by the group and honoured “brave MPs who have stood for life”.

Enid Lyons List, which formed earlier this year, says it seeks to “create a new coalition of Australians to change the culture and advocate for law reform that exposes abortion as violence against women and children”.

It was named for the first woman elected to the federal cabinet, who spoke out against abortion before her death in 1981.

On its website, the group says it was formed in the wake of abortion decriminalisation law reform that passed the state parliament last year and takes effect this week.

It argues “the pendulum has swung too far” and Australia now has “the most extreme abortion laws in the world”.

At the top of the page – the very first thing a user sees when visiting the site – sits the Enid Lyons quote: “Abortion is a matter of life and death. There is no justification for it, despite the emotional arguments to support it”.

The list of “panellists and mentors”. Picture: Enid Lyons List/Facebook

No justification for it. Not the physical or mental health of a woman, not the condition of a fetus, not rape, not incest. None.

Is this view shared by the MPs who were billed as “mentors and panellists” at the training day, or those who attended the awards ceremony earlier this year?

After the weekend event became engulfed by controversy, Mr Speirs claimed “this event, as far as I know, isn’t to do with abortion”.

“Enid Lyons List has a particular framework of values, one of which I understand to be pro-life,” he said.

Mr Speirs, who withdrew from attending at the 11th hour, said he agreed abortion should be decriminalised.

If that is his view, it’s baffling that he would agree to attend an event held by a group that describes Australian abortion as violence against women and children, and current law as “extreme”.

The five other MPs involved with the event, and those who were at the ceremony, must now clarify whether they agree with Enid Lyons List that there is no justification for abortion and women in SA should have some of their rights taken away.