Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Report rejecting bill to legalise abortion in Queensland misses mental health risk link

byMark Bowling
8 September 2016 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
AA
abortion

Pro-life protest: A group of protesters in Brisbane concerned about a proposed bill that would make abortion legal in Queensland.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
abortion
Pro-life protest: A group of protesters in Brisbane concerned about a proposed bill that would make abortion legal in Queensland.

A 135-page report which formed the basis of Queensland’s parliamentary inquiry rejecting an abortion legalisation bill, found no link between abortion and mental health risks amongst women.

That’s despite international longitudinal studies that show women can suffer substantial long-term mental injury following terminations.

The inquiry finding could prove significant if the document is used in support of any new legislative abortion.

On August 17, Member for Cairns Rob Pyne proposed a new bill, titled the Health (Abortion Law Reform) Amendment Bill 2016, to regulate the procurement of abortions for women more than 24 weeks pregnant.

The new bill would make late-term abortions legal, but only with the consultation of two doctors and on the basis that pregnancy “would involve greater risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the woman than if the pregnancy were terminated”.

Based on 1400 submissions, with hearings held across Queensland, the inquiry chairwoman, Labor MP Leanne Linard concluded: “The committee was unable to support the bill as it failed to address a number of important policy issues and to achieve a number of its own stated objectives.”

The report showed 10,000 to 14,000 abortions had been performed annually in Queensland in recent years, but drew no causal link between abortion and mental health.

Member for Cleveland Mark Robinson had already expressed his disappointment that the inquiry committee under-estimated the psychological impacts of abortion on women.

“My sense is the panel glossed over the substantial body of research showing a significant and substantial impact on some women after abortion,” Dr Robinson told The Catholic Leader earlier this year.

“It can be immediate or years down the track as they become more informed about the operation and what happened.”

Related Stories

Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

Biden condemns violence, threats after churches and Supreme justices’ homes targeted over abortion row

Crowds gather in Washington as US court appears ready to strike down landmark case that legalised abortion

Dr Robinson cited New Zealand research including a 2006 study co-authored by Professor David Fergusson entitled “Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health”.

The study showed that women who aborted had higher rates of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviours and substance abuse.

In 2008, Prof Fergusson wrote a paper for the British Journal of Psychiatry entitled “Abortion and mental health disorders: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study”.

It concluded that: “Women who had abortions had a thirty per cent higher incidence of mental health problems according to a thirty-year study following more than five hundred women.”

The parliamentary inquiry considered Prof Fergusson’s 2008 research, but concluded: “Ultimately … it is clear that there is no established causal relationship between abortion and mental health outcomes.”

The inquiry also found no link between breast cancer and abortion despite a growing body of international evidence.

The link between breast cancer and abortion is investigated in the 2016 documentary film Hush. 

The film raises the question whether women are being told the truth about abortion and its potential health risks. 

“The abortion industry regularly denies evidence that there is a link between abortion and breast cancer, infertility, pre-term birth, depression and other health problems,” Canadian filmmaker Punam Kumar Gill, who identifies as being pro-choice, said but explained she wanted to find out the truth about abortion risks and whether they are real. 

By Mark Bowling

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Gender pay gap: Have Catholic organisations forgotten St John Paul II’s letter to women?

Next Post

London guide impressed with Australia’s first Oratory community

Mark Bowling

Mark is the joint winner of the Australian Variety Club 2000 Heart Award for his radio news reporting in East Timor, and has also won a Walkley award, Australia’s most-respected journalism award. Mark is the author of ‘Running Amok’ that chronicles his time as a foreign correspondent juggling news deadlines and the demands of being a husband and father. Mark is married with four children.

Related Posts

Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport
QLD

Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

16 May 2022
Biden condemns violence, threats after churches and Supreme justices’ homes targeted over abortion row

Biden condemns violence, threats after churches and Supreme justices’ homes targeted over abortion row

10 May 2022
Crowds gather in Washington as US court appears ready to strike down landmark case that legalised abortion

Crowds gather in Washington as US court appears ready to strike down landmark case that legalised abortion

4 May 2022
Next Post

London guide impressed with Australia's first Oratory community

Book launch

Popular guide for catechumens and candidates gets a facelift

Sr Anne Cavanagh

Oldest sister in order founded by Mary MacKillop marks 80th religious anniversary and 100th birthday

Popular News

  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says
Faith

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

by CNS
18 May 2022
0

HOLINESS is possible, and the Catholic Church provides the tools for attaining it. That was the theme...

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

18 May 2022
Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

18 May 2022
Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

17 May 2022
Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

17 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping