Queensland election: Young mothers fear post-election abortion law change
For Sunshine Coast mother-of-three Charli Fouhy and her friends, a Labor loss on October 26 feels as if it has real-life consequences for their health.
For Sunshine Coast mother-of-three Charli Fouhy and her friends, a Labor loss on October 26 feels as if it has real-life consequences for their health.
The teaching student is an ALP branch member and says most of her friends are decidedly apolitical, but they are all terrified of the possibility Queensland’s abortion laws could be wound back if the LNP wins government.
“Worried is not the right word, they’re shocked it’s a possibility,” Ms Fouhy told The Weekend Australian.
“We’re so close to it becoming legal (termination of pregnancy was decriminalised in Queensland in 2018). That’s in our recent history.
“I know multiple people who have had to have terminations (for medical reasons) while actively trying to have children. And that’s such a sad, sad situation. It’s a healthcare situation, it’s inside hospitals, it’s with professionals.”
LNP leader David Crisafulli has promised not to change the state’s termination of pregnancy laws if he is elected premier, but he has been dogged by questions about what would happen if his anti-abortion MPs were given a conscience vote on a private member’s bill on the issue.
Ms Fouhy and her baby son Seamus were roped into a campaign picture opportunity with Premier Steven Miles and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman on Friday, and the six-month-old was unflappable when confronted by the press pack.
His mum said Seamus’s three-year-old twin brothers went to daycare on Fridays, and the youngest loved to soak up all the undivided attention from any grown-up he encountered.
“He actually kind of loved being the centre of attention. (The photograph) was a classic politics moment. I’m a Labor supporter, so I liked seeing the Premier but honestly, he would take any adult,” she laughed.
Ms Fouhy lives in Beerwah, in the Labor-held electorate of Caloundra, which former prison guard Jason Hunt secured in a surprise victory in 2020.
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