Why is a Liberal government pushing radical abortion laws?
If people wanted a Labor-Greens agenda they would have voted them in. But instead of taking the Liberal party’s victories as support in her party’s values, Gladys Berejiklian has radically flipped, writes Miranda Devine.
What is the point of electing a Liberal government if all it does is implement a Labor-Greens agenda?
This is the question all conservative voters in NSW should be asking today as the Berejiklian government plans to ram through parliament one of the most radical abortion bills on the planet.
Not only does the bill allow unborn babies to be aborted right up until the moment of birth, but it forces any doctor with a conscientious objection to refer the patient to a doctor who will carry out the abortion.
It’s astonishing that such a dangerously illiberal law would be backed by a Liberal government. If it becomes law, as it probably will since it’s supported by the Premier and Opposition Leader, the government will have betrayed the people who voted for it just four months ago.
RELATED: Gladys Berejiklian and other ministers flag support for decriminalising abortion in NSW
As furious Liberal backbencher Kevin Connolly points out, the first most MPs knew about this bill was when Health Minister Brad Hazzard appeared at a press conference on Saturday alongside left-wing independent Alex Greenwich, the inner-city protégé of Sydney’s worst-ever Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.
Hazzard actually is co-sponsoring Greenwich’s terrible bill, with the support of ersatz North Shore Liberal Felicity Wilson, and Upper House LINO (Liberal In Name Only) Trevor Khan.
How these people ever got to represent Liberal voters is one of the enduring mysteries of NSW.
For his own nefarious reasons, frowny Transport Minister Andrew Constance has been busy ringing colleagues to persuade them to vote for the bill, which has precisely nothing to do with a portfolio he appears incapable of managing competently.
Of course, everyone knows that cranky Constance has delusions of being Premier once Berejiklian retires, a happy event he and other ambitious colleagues hope will occur later this term.
To that end he has adopted the persona of a hardcore left-wing feminist, including banning a pro-life poster which appeared on the side of a bus in Newcastle. The poster featuring a woman’s hands creating a love heart symbol around her pregnant belly, with the words: “A heart beats at four weeks.” Which is the truth.
MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: ‘Celebrating’ abortion shows lack of humanity
Constance tweeted that he was “appalled” by the poster, which had been legitimately paid for by pro-life group Emily’s Voice. He boasted that he had “instructed that this ad and any similar collateral [sic] be removed immediately”.
How about you just get the buses to run on time, Mr Ferry McFerry Face. Everyone knows Constance’s motive for championing late-term abortion is to wedge more competent socially conservative leadership prospects.
But he has pushed his colleagues too far.
On Tuesday, the Liberal party room erupted into an almighty row over the bill, as those on the side of freedom of conscience found their voice and managed to slow the passage of the bill by at least a few days.
“I am dismayed that such a Bill is being put before the parliament this week and that it appears it will be rushed through with little time for public input,” Connolly said in an angry statement.
“Removing the last vestiges of legal protection for unborn children in NSW is not a health care reform. It is a step backwards to a less-enlightened, less-civilised society which places only selective value on human life.
MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: Tassie wants to legalise abortions for men. You heard right
“I am particularly disappointed that the Bill has not been foreshadowed to the coalition joint party room, denying Members the opportunity to debate either the merits of the Bill or the process of its introduction to parliament. It is especially disheartening that members of the Government have been involved in this process without the endorsement of the party room.”
What problem is there with abortion in NSW that needs fixing so urgently that this bill has to be forced through in record time, with minimal room for debate?
Any woman already can legally and easily procure an abortion, as long as a doctor agrees it is necessary to preserve her physical or mental health, which, in practice, is always agreed.
Are voters clamouring for late-term abortion? No. Almost all oppose it, according to a Galaxy Poll in 2017 for Abortion Rethink.
Only five per cent of people polled in NSW said abortion should be legal right up until birth; 74 per cent oppose abortion outright beyond 23 weeks gestation and 56 per cent agree that an unborn baby at 23 weeks is a person with rights.
Yet the Greenwich-Hazzard bill allows for abortion on demand for women up to 22 weeks and, from 22 weeks right up until birth, all it takes is a second doctor to sign off, taking into account “current and future physical, psychological and social circumstances”.
RELATED: Premier pressured to delay abortion bill by Conservative MPs
Hazzard was flummoxed yesterday when Sky News host Laura Jayes asked him to cite a “social reason” acceptable to terminate a pregnancy. He blathered some nonsense about the complex lives of women. He has no idea what his own co-sponsored bill means. Deeply unimpressive.
If NSW had wanted a Labor-Greens agenda we would have voted for Labor and the Greens.
Just two months ago Australians voted in a Christian conservative prime minister in a campaign marked by a debate on religious freedom. Scott Morrison is more popular today than he was on election day.
But the Berejiklian government has taken the wrong message from the electorate’s vote of faith, seeing it instead as a licence to go woke.
The Premier should be ashamed of herself for hoodwinking the voters of NSW.
devinemiranda@hotmail.com
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