PRO-life supporters are gearing up for a month of tireless campaigning to ensure Queensland politicians protect the unborn.
Cherish Life Queensland announced the annual March For Life will be held in Brisbane on March 18, a day after the first national summit for the grassroots campaign Abortion Rethink.
Four thousand people turned up to last year’s March for Life rally and numbers are expected to swell amid the law reform climate.
On February 13, the Queensland Law Reform Commission received its final submissions to investigate and recommend whether abortion should be made legal in the state.
Parliament has already rejected two bills that attempted to decriminalise abortion in Queensland. In Queensland, abortion is an offence in the criminal code unless it is performed in good faith and reasonable care for the patient’s benefit or to preserve the mother’s life.
Cherish Life Queensland state president Julie Borger said Queenslanders who believed there should be no changes to abortion laws needed to stand up. She invited pro-life supporters to rally through the streets of Brisbane next week.
“We must continue to demonstrate to (politicians) and to all Queenslanders that the community does not want this extreme law, which would allow abortion until birth for any reason,” she said. “If ever there was a time to stand up for life, it’s now.
“This is the best and last chance we have as Queenslanders to tell our politicians loud and clear that Queensland is pro-life.”
Mrs Borger hopes one of those politicians to get the message is Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, who publicly supports abortion.
Mrs Borger said Ms Trad had questions to answer after stating at a pro-abortion rally on January 21 that the QLRC investigation into abortion law reforms would report their findings to the Government in March.
This was despite a public document advising that the report would be provided to the Attorney-General and Minister for Training and Skills by June 30, 2018.
“We committed in the last term that we would refer all of the bills and all of the consultation and submissions that occurred in the last term around two bills, introduced into the Queensland Parliament to decriminalise and regulate abortion in this state to the Law Reform Commission and they are doing their work, and they will come back to us in March this year and we have made a commitment to the women of Queensland, to all Queenslanders, that we will work on their recommendations to modernise and to decriminalise laws in this state,” Ms Trad said at the rally.
Mrs Borger said Cherish Life Queensland was now concerned that “what should be an arm’s length review by the QLRC is being influenced by political expediency and extreme ideology”.
Pro-life supporters will process in the March for Life from Queens Gardens from 2pm and head to the Speaker’s Corner, Parliament House.
Participants are being asked to dress in white to represent the innocent victims of abortion.
Ahead of the march, medical and health professionals, social workers, politicians, researchers, academics and women are invited to the inaugural national Abortion Rethink summit.
The summit will focus on what it means to be responsive to women in Australia considering terminating a pregnancy.
It will begin at 8.30am at the Parliamentary Annexe on March 17.
