BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the Queensland Parliament’s move to decriminalise abortion would mean euthanasia would be the next target of legislation for MPs.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018, which passed with a final vote of 50 votes to 41 on October 17, allows for abortions up to 22 weeks, and beyond 22 weeks with the approval of a second doctor.
These late-term abortions can now be undertaken for psychosocial reasons.
All MPs were given a conscience vote.
Archbishop Coleridge said the archdiocese reached out to tens of thousands of people to ask for their thoughts on this abortion legislation.
“We had more than 25,000 replies and 98 per cent of those were critical of the legislation, particularly around the ability to terminate babies until birth for social or psychological reasons,” he said.
“The strongest replies we received were from Labor electorates.
“The Premier’s electorate was the most vocal by a considerable margin.
“On social media, I noted that this conscience vote was tied to political expediency and personal opportunism, and that doesn’t help when you’re dealing with a matter of life and death.
“This was a so-called ‘conscience’ vote, yet only one Government MP voted against the bill.
“That seems remarkable to me when we’re debating laws that allow termination until birth for social reasons.
“Strangely, only one Government MP was uncomfortable with that; others – some of them Catholic – seemed untroubled.
“Seriously unedifying were the cheering and rejoicing in the chamber when the vote was decided.
“It seemed to me like dancing on the graves of unborn children who will rise up in judgement when the time comes.”
Archbishop Coleridge said euthanasia would be the next target for MPs.
“The Archdiocese of Brisbane will continue to engage with our large network to fight for the lives of the most vulnerable – those yet to be born and those in the final stages of life,” he said.
“And we will do so not as a lobby group or a community of activists but precisely as the Church, which means not under the influence of ideology but in the power of the Gospel.”
