QUEENSLAND pro-life commentators have reacted positively to a politician’s suggestion women seeking abortions first undergo 3D colour ultrasound imaging and view the foetus.
Cherish Life Queensland president Teresa Martin described ultrasound technology as equivalent to a “see-through womb” and said it was already “saving the lives of the unborn”.
However, both Ms Martin and Brisbane archdiocese’s Queensland Bioethics Centre director Ray Campbell have expressed doubt that such a course of action should be compulsory.
Their comments follow Western Australia Liberal Member of Parliament and former pastor Peter Abetz’s suggestion at a Perth anti-abortion rally late last month that ultrasounds should be compulsory for women seeking abortions.
Mr Abetz told the rally, held on the anniversary of the 1998 liberalisation of Western Australia’s abortion laws, that a United States study showed that 89 per cent of women had changed their minds on having abortions when shown 3D colour ultrasounds of the foetuses they were carrying.
The MP also called for other amendments to Western Australia’s abortion laws including a 48-hour “cooling-off period” after women had applied for an abortion.
Mr Abetz’s suggestions drew widespread opposition from pro-abortion groups, with one spokeswoman saying “women (seeking abortions) were already given ultrasounds before an abortion but it was up to them if they wanted to see it”.
One political website also said “women are entitled to determine for themselves what information is relevant to them to assist them in making choices”.
Mr Campbell said such commentators “were often living in fairyland”.
“We know from experience women, after having abortions, have reported how much they were coerced into the action when they visited clinics,” he said.
“US research organisations such as the Elliot Institute show a large proportion of women making this decision have also been under pressure from other sources including the father of the child and their own families.
“We’ve also seen this from our own experience in Brisbane archdiocese with support groups – Walking With Love and Pregnancy Crisis Inc – for women experiencing vulnerable pregnancies.
“Our experience is if the support is forthcoming women will usually opt to have the child rather than abort it.”
Mr Campbell and Ms Martin both agreed 3D colour ultrasounds would bring home the reality of the life the mother was carrying.
“It certainly brings home to a woman considering an abortion the reality of what they’re proposing to go through,” he said.
“Looking at the image, it’s difficult to see that this is anything other than a child.”
Ms Martin said she had seen an ultrasound device at an abortion clinic visited on the invitation of a staff member.
“However, the screen was turned away from the client,” she said.
“My understanding is it was used to locate the foetus for the doctor performing the abortion.
“I know for a fact that these women are not encouraged to view the ultrasound as they frequently change their minds after seeing the image.”
Pro-life groups are relying on such images to deter abortions in the US, Ms Martin said.
“These groups are setting up ultrasound vans near abortion clinics and many of the women that do use this facility are changing their minds about having an abortion,” she said.
“If women had see-through wombs, abortion would never have got to the stage it has.
“In a sense ultrasound imaging is creating such a see-through environment.”
Ms Martin said that, for a woman’s own physical and mental health protection, some form of pre-abortion counselling should be compulsory.
“However, from the point of view of allowing people ‘true’ freedom ultrasound scans shouldn’t be made compulsory and should only be given if so desired,” she said.
Both Mr Campbell and Ms Martin agreed that a “cooling-off period” for a woman considering an abortion was a good idea.
Mr Campbell said as far as he was aware Queensland had no such protection.
“Bearing in mind, the Church opposes abortion and sees it as wrong, ‘full-stop’, I think a cooling-off period is a good measure,” he said.
Ms Martin said such a period was definitely a good idea.
“You have such a protection when taking on a loan, buying a car or whatever,” she said.
“Why then not on something as major as removing a baby from your life?
“What I find puzzling is if these pro-abortion groups are so concerned about women’s right to choose, why they’re so against something like a cooling-off period.
“How can women make a choice on something so crucial if they don’t have time to think on and research what they’re choosing?
“Why shouldn’t all the implications of abortion be explained, and options such as fostering and adoption for that matter?”
Ms Martin said those interested in further involvement in the discussion on issues surrounding abortion were welcome to attend Cherish Life’s annual meeting and conference in Brisbane on June 26.
Five women, including two American women from Operation Outcry in the US, will be speaking about their experiences of abortion, adoption and parenthood.
