We include amongst our number mothers who have one child, several children; are single, married, in a civil union, in a defacto relationship, widowed, separated; have had fertility problems, have suffered miscarriages, have had unplanned pregnancies, have had abortions; are step-mothers; are religious, are atheists, are agnostic; and hail from a variety of different cultures and backgrounds.
We define a pro-choice position on abortion as:
respecting the right of individual women to choose for themselves whether or not to continue a pregnancy, without the need to seek permission from anyone else for a termination.Mothers For Choice has started up in support of the key elements of a bill Steve Chadwick (a Labour MP) has been considering putting in the ballot for Private Member’s Bill. While the Bill has not yet been drafted, we support what we understand to be its main provisions, namely:
- abortion available on demand (i.e. woman concerned decides) to 24 weeks
- abortion with medial practitioner’s support after 24 weeks when appropriate
- decriminalize abortion (remove from Crimes Act)
- make it an offence for an unqualified person to carry out an abortion (pregnant woman not to be charged)
- regulate health practitioners involved in terminations
- health practitioners who have conscientious objection to abortion must inform women they can access abortion from elsewhere
If you agree with this position statement and would like to show your support for Mothers For Choice please become a fan of our Facebook page.
We maintain a private group for those involved in organizing activity for Mothers For Choice, please contact us by email if you wish to become more involved mothersforchoice@gmail.com.
