Abortion in the Media

CATHY O'LEARY, MEDICAL EDITOR, The West Australian June 9, 2011.
Used with permission.

WA has Australia's second highest rate of abortions compared with the number of pregnancies, new figures reveal.

A State Health Department report shows almost one in four pregnancies in WA in 2009 were terminated on purpose.

The review, which tracked the number of abortions from 2006 to 2009, also found more than half of all pregnancies in teenagers aged 15 to 19 ended in abortions.

In total, 8885 abortions were carried out in 2009, or one for every 50 WA women aged 15 to 44, with the highest rates in the Pilbara and South West.

They included 44 girls under 15 and 32 women over 45.

The report said 22.3 per cent of all pregnancies in WA ended in abortion, the highest so-called abortion proportion in Australia after NSW, which had a rate of 24.7 per cent in 2006.

"WA's proportion of pregnancies ending in abortion has been relatively high, around 22 per cent, since 2006, while the abortion proportion of other States was around 21, except for New South Wales," the review found.

"Abortion rates in WA are higher than those in some developed countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland, which have significantly lower rates.

"The groups with the highest proportion of terminated pregnancies were those at the extremes of the reproductive age, teenagers and women aged 45 and over."

Despite a popular perception that teenagers with unwanted pregnancies underwent the bulk of abortions, they made up less than one-fifth of the total, with the most terminations for women in their 20s, with an average age of 26.

The report said the vast majority of abortions were carried out in private clinics rather than public hospitals and performed in the first three months of pregnancy. Less than one per cent took place after 20 weeks, which required special approval from a medical panel.

Less than 3 per cent were carried out because of suspected birth defects such as spina bifida.

While abortion was available in WA before 1998, its legal status was unclear until amendments to the Abortion Act that year made it lawful to perform abortions subject to conditions.

© The West Australian

On May 4, Life Network Australia President, Sonja Couroupis, spoke on national Christian radio. In an interview by the Australian Christian Lobby, Sonja commented on the recent case in Italy where a baby boy was left to die after a botched late term abortion. She exposes Australia's terrible track record of live births following abortion. She also mentions the increase in late term abortions in Victoria following the passing of legislation in 2008 which allows for abortion on demand in that State. Have a listen to the interview on the ACL website (May 4, starts at about 8:30 minutes).

A GROWING number of induced babies are born alive following failed late-term abortions.

New Queensland Health figures show 19 babies were aborted at 20 weeks or more in 2007, but rather than dying at birth as intended, the newborns were able to breathe unaided.

The babies, some as advanced as 26 weeks, were aborted using drugs to induce labour. Once born, no medical help was offered and they died soon afterwards.

Former Queensland Health obstetrician Dr Caroline de Costa, now a professor at James Cook University in Cairns, said it was extremely distressing for parents and medical staff when terminations went wrong .

"If babies are born alive after this they are likely to die within a few minutes, although it can take up to half an hour," she said.

"We can only keep them wrapped up warm. It is up to the parents whether they want to see the child."

The figures - obtained under the Freedom of Information Act - reveal one in four abortions performed at 20 weeks and more went wrong in 2007, up 20 per cent on 2003.

The number of abortions carried out at 20 weeks and more is also increasing, up from 27 in 2003 to 75 in 2007. Medicare funds terminations up to 26 weeks.

In the same five-year period, there were 55 babies born alive after a termination procedure and not given medical treatment.

Ninety per cent of the 2007 terminations were due to congenital abnormalities.
Some were life-threatening, but they also included cleft palates and club feet.

The relentless push by those in favour of abortion continues with another pro abortion article this week. Yet another journalist in support of the liberalisation of abortion laws in Queensland, Adele Horin ('Right to choose abortion wins strong support', Brisbanetimes.com.au, October 4, 2009) writes that "57 percent of Australians support a women's right to obtain an abortion readily when they want one", that "one-third supports abortion 'in special circumstances', and only 4 per cent opposes abortion outright".

To gain a more accurate account of the study undertaken, it would be necesaary to know the questions posed. For example, for the "one third", what constitutes "special circumstances"?  Rape? Incest? Disability? Such "special circumstances" account for relatively very few abortions. 

Ms Horin states that "Queenslanders in particular, hold liberal views on abortion, yet politicians' fear of small religious minorities appears to have stymied decriminalisation of the procedure in some states, a study shows" and that "the findings, from the Australian Election Study, are based on polling 1873 electors at the 2007 federal election". 

Allan Carman ('Have your say', Cathnews, October 5, 2009) responded by asking "Where do they get these results? How many people were surveyed and from what demographic?" He stated that "as usual, a story using skewed results from a secular media source".

Mr. Carmans comment is supported by the failure of the media to publish the results of a recent online poll in the Courier Mail in Brisbane asking whether Queensland abortion laws should be changed. Almost 10 000 people responded (ten times the number of respondents in the 2007 Australian election study). Of these 10,000 respondents, 71% opposed changes to abortion laws in Queensland.

It is time for the public to begin to question the reliability of media sources and their motivation for the distortion or omission of relevant information regarding abortion.