[Politics]
Breaking: Victorian Labor promises to fully cover out-of-pocket costs for all abortions, as One Nation seeks to ban abortion in potential deal with Jess Wilson’s Liberals
Why is the conversation about abortion even making it's way into politics? How has it become so normalised for politicians to talk about specific medical procedures? Unless the politician is also an OB/GYN, don't want to hear it. Just assign a Medicare number to it, like any other procedure, and move on.
The average age of a Liberal Party member is 70 years old.
A decade ago they started recruiting the Christian Hard Right into their membership to address their aging party. They bring in the volunteers, the money, and are influencing the Liberals’ policy positions such as Abortion Rights.
Its a wedge. Labor have announced this specifically to force the LNP to say they'll either match it or dont support it. When they come out and say they dont support it (which they have to, to appease their voters base) Labor can say that the LNP dont care about women and their health care. Easy political point scoring.
Funnily enough last time i looked at this(qld election) even a majority of coaltion voters support abortion access. Obviously not as high as other parties though
Not really "specific" 1 in 3 women will have an abortion in their lifetime. There are Medicare numbers assigned to each procedure but the out of pocket costs can be between $500-$1000. Not insignificant sums. It should be bulk billed. It's an important issue that needs to be addressed but agree it's kind of come out of nowhere.
Source? I agree it should be bulk billed and I'm very very pro choice, but I find it very hard to believe that 1 in 3 Victorian women have had an abortion. From what age?
It's a very wide definition they're using, including other gynaecological procedures and miscarriage procedures. ; 'Drawing on a patchwork of data sources that potentially include dilation and curettage procedures for miscarriage or other gynecological conditions [36], the most recent estimate finds 17.3 abortion procedures per 1000 women of reproductive age annually'
The study projects this figure based on d&c procedure numbers. Plenty of women have a d&c after the birth of a living baby, so I wonder if that was taken into account.
Yeah and these broad estimates dont take into account medically necessary/unviable pregnancies... Simply because the data isn't there it's just the number of procedures known. People assume most abortions are unwanted but the spectrum is broad as to why this procedure is performed and why it should be bulk billed.
I have not read any of the linked stats but as an almost middle aged woman who knows many other middle age woman, 1 in 3 seems accurate. The ratio of woman I know is probably more like 1 in 5, but given then sensitivity of the topic I can assume there are many woman in my life that have had one and not shared this.
Not but it’s a common trope all through out leftist politics. It’s called paternalism when people expect immigrants to act in a monolithic voting bloc and it’s actually quite racist
Oh get fucked lol, when an older immigrant man I'm very chummy with at my local fishing spot says he's never voted before but this year he's voting one nation even though Pauline said the majority of Australians don't want citizens who are not born here, I think that's odd and surprising and I 100% blame the algorithm/media for feeding them horse shit. Nothing to do with race, or expecting all immigrants to behave the same you fkn gronk.
Most are, yes. Others are just wrong.. in the ACT you can have an abortion literally up until the due date without giving an excuse. No health risks, no birth defects etc you can get one just because you don’t feel like it. I’m not saying it’s common, but it does happen and the law needs to change.
Abortions after 20 weeks (roughly only 1-3% of all abortions Australia) take place because of serious medical factors/dangers. Women aren’t just getting to 8 months and then deciding “yeah nah, changed my mind”. Furthermore from what I can find, abortion on request in ACT is only up to 24 weeks (just over 5 months). Abortions after 24 weeks require a second medical practitioner to agree that it’s medically necessary.
I mean it’s particularly stupid because major medical issues are often found on the 20 week scan and if you haven’t had it yet you won’t be aware there is some sort of problem that is incompatible with life or will mean some sort of incredibly complex condition that will condemn a child to pain and misery. Morons
As my last sentence said, it’s not common, but it does and has happened. I’m not sure where youre getting the information from, but you absolutely can get an abortion at any time as theirs no gestational limit in the ACT, and it doesn’t require a secondary medical practitioner. The rest of Australia, yes but not the ACT. Getting downvoted for stating facts is wild, the truth hurts.
Childrenbychoice.org.au and it’s all written on the ACT government health portal as well, that’s just a couple of sources. It’s pretty easy to fact check. Again, just becuase it’s not common doesn’t mean that it’s never happened.
> Children by Choice is an independent non-profit Queensland-based organisation that has been championing the reproductive rights of woman and pregnant people for over 50 years.
Once again, please find where on that site it says you can get an abortion up until the due date for any reason without a second doctor signing it off. in the ACT. I'm open to learning, so I genuinely would like to see the evidence for this.
Not sure that being a QLD based organisation matters when it specifically has the option to look at ACT rules. I’m currently at work, so don’t have much time but do a bit of googling and you’ll see for yourself. If you’re genuinely interested then it shouldn’t be that hard.
I can also get AI to give me answers that agree with what I want too.
I do find it interesting that you've cut off the part about 'practical availability', which is probably most relevant to this conversation.
Despite the fact that the statement that legislation doesnt prevent abortion 'for any reason' including the mother simply deciding she doesnt want it anymore, up until that due date being true, the practicality of it actually happening and a doctor signing off on it is HIGHLY unlikely.
You also havent provided any evidence of that occurring other than saying "its not common but it happens". I guarantee you if there was ACTUAL evidence of that happening, the pro-lifers would be plastering it everywhere. But you go ahead and believe whatever it is you want to believe. I'm sure you'll just think that I'm "ignoring the evidence" cause I dont want to believe.
Any restrictions on abortions when there is already a doctor involved are a slippery slope and should be avoided. The legislation does not need to change.
But it CAN happen and that’s my whole point. Again, thanks for looking into it and confirming what I already know is true. I hope more people learn about this
Your first paragraph is irrelevant, did you not read my comments? I’m talking about NON MEDICAL REASONING. Can you confidently say that it’s never happened?
You hate people like me? You don’t even know me. Why are you bringing gay people in the conversation? Are you ok, mentally?
That’s what the last 2 people said, before they looked it up for themselves and deleted their comments. Unfortunately, I’m right. It’s legal to have an abortion up until due date without medical reasoning or a second doctor. It’s hard to do, and the chances of it happening are slim… but still legal and possible. Read the thread, you’ll find the sources. I’m not going through this all again.
Even if the libs say they wont do it, if a minority government gets in with One Nation with some of the power, that gives them enough to try to raise the legislation. Also lets not forget that LNP is also made up of the Nationals too. I'm sure some of them would be happy to try and past some of these restrictions.
A vote for the Libs is 100% a vote for restrictions to abortions
To PH and her archaic Temu trump policies ~ fk off!! You have no right to tell anyone what to do with their bodies! No one goes and has an abortion because they feel like it!
We've gone from, "Abortion should be safe and rare" to "Here's some free money, now go get an abortion" in seemingly the blink of a fucking eye.
There's a lot of people, I think probably even MOST people who are fine with abortion being legal but NOT FINE with it being used essentially as birth control. You're going to lose our votes.
Sure mate, only 8 percent are against abortion in all form, 62 percent fully support all forms. Do you see how that's the majority? How about you mind your own business and don't get one of you are against it. Easy
You're an idiot who didn't address anything I said and mistakenly assumed I was against abortion, rather than having a nuanced and popular opinion on it.
“Free money.” When it simply covers the cost of organising and paying for a medical procedure, as we already have for many other medical procedures.
Accessibility to abortions does not increase the desire for abortions, it just makes it so that the people that needed access in the first place don’t have to take out a loan to do so.
No one is using it as birth control. That’s beyond obvious to anyone that actually does any research on the process in Victoria. Some people (idiots like you) seem to think you just show up at your GP and they give you a ticket to an abortion clinic. When in reality the GP appointment is the start of an arduous process, followed by a referral to an ultrasound, then going back to your GP (unless you’re too early and they can’t determine your exact week of pregnancy, in which you have to go back and do another ultrasound weeks later), then finally you are referred to a clinic that can provide you with the service. And whether it’s via prescription pills or a surgical procedure it is not fun, or easy. It’s traumatic, and sometimes shameful, it’s incredibly painful, and sometimes requires follow ups, much like miscarriages in which a D&C is needed.
And on top of navigating all of that, needing time off work and dealing with that trauma, you also end up paying up to $1000.
So no, making abortions free doesn’t make abortions easier, doesn’t make them less traumatic, doesn’t make anyone consider them an alternative to legitimate birth control options, and doesn’t even increase the amount of abortions occurring.
Is everyone getting baited by mainstream media again?
ON offical policy is to restrict abortion to the first 20 weeks, because premature babies are actually commonly surviving being born at 22-28 weeks, where as previously this was very very rare.
M brother had a 27 week premmy baby 13 years ago and the doctors sure weren’t confident on her then, shows how far our natal care has advanced imo.
I’m so glad to hear things worked out for your brother and niece, but this isn’t about babies being born premmie and their survival rate.
My SIL had to have a late term abortion at about 24 weeks because the fetus had a birth defect where the spin was growing outside of the body and would never have survived.
It took 2 doctors to sign off on this and it was done as it was determined that it would be better for the physical health my SIL. I’d hate to think of the mental health implications of carrying a baby to full term that was then going to die.
While this seems like a ‘moderate’ change to the laws, this is where rights start to get eroded, and we end up in a situation like the US, where a victim of rape, or an uber driver can end up with harsher punishments than an actual rapist.
Thanks for that., but it kind is their whole point, you understand under one nations policy your sister would still be able to abort that fetus for medical reasons. She would go through the same process.
All I have to say in your last point is that isn’t a unique US thing, the judiciary all across the western world doesn’t give rapists prison sentences that are in line with community expectations and I think it’s disgusting.
Well, America was leading the way with this kind of thing, until crazy conservatives chipped at it away so much that Roe vs Wade and all the other women’s rights bills got over turned. What ON are proposing is where and how it started.
Also, I don’t think anyone thinks the story you have highlighted is fair or reasonable.
30
u/Timetogoout 2d ago
Why is the conversation about abortion even making it's way into politics? How has it become so normalised for politicians to talk about specific medical procedures? Unless the politician is also an OB/GYN, don't want to hear it. Just assign a Medicare number to it, like any other procedure, and move on.