Letter sent to Richard Court during Perth abortion debate

22 February 1998

Dear Premier Court,

I was ecstatic when I heard that an abortionist was finally being charged for procuring an abortion. I am now outraged, however, to think that the committal proceedings for Dr. Chan may lead to a reversal of the abortion laws in Western Australia because of ignorance and media bias. I am also shocked that Cheryl Davenport, MLC has said she will introduce a private member’s bill to legalise abortion in Western Australia,after Parliament resumes on March 10. I urge you, I beg you, to do all in your power to ensure that the abortion laws are upheld.

Some of the public continues to be misinformed, about abortion procedures, the harm it is doing to women, and the fact that abortion tortures and kills a living human being. I am sure you have noticed that an abortion procedure is never shown on television or elsewhere in the media. If it were shown, the vast majority of Western Australia would be horrified.

I ask you to take a look at the following sites on the Internet. Dr. Nathanson, an ex-abortionist in the USA, describes, first-hand, how he and his supporters falsified figures and opinion polls to convince the US Supreme Court to legalise abortion. The effect was virtual abortion on demand up to birth and a 1500% increase in abortions after the 1973 decision, malpractice claims, deaths of mothers and ‘modern’ procedures such as the "partial-birth" abortion procedure which is nothing if not barbaric. (http://home.earthlink.net/~cdia/confessi.htm and http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3382/index.htm )

Is this what we want for Western Australia? Dr Harry Cohen , director at King Edward Memorial Hospital and a long-time abortion advocate, has claimed that 99% of abortions performed in WA are illegal because the " physical health of the mother’ test is rarely applied ( or needed to be applied) to women seeking abortions. If we legalise abortion, we will be responsible for the unjustifiable murder of thousands of healthy babies, (from healthy mothers) who would never have otherwise been aborted. If we begin to enforce the present law, we will save thousands of lives and begin fostering a climate that values life, responsibility and accountability.

Do we truly know what every single Western Australian feels about legalising abortion and whether their opinion is an informed one? Should we allow a change to the law simply because of media bias and subjective polls and a lack of information? As I am sure you are aware, we are dealing with life and death issues, not just about freedom of speech/action.

I trust that you will encourage your colleagues to support the most basic human right; the right to life, and to foster a climate in our state which values children and encourages people to be responsible for their actions. There is help for many women out there who may simply need some encouragement and support to make the right decision.

Yours sincerely,