ABORTION was defined as “the enormous destruction of unborn children driven by a power that is evil” in a hard-hitting talk delivered by Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane at this year’s Rally for Life gathering at Queens Park in the CBD last weekend.
Archbishop Bathersby told the crowd, estimated at about 1000, on February 12 that “the evil (of abortion) is pure selfishness, an evil that society doesn’t want to think about even though it abhors other types of violence”.
One of the rally organisers Cherish Life Queensland president Teresa Martin said society’s indifference to the issue had been borne out by the lack of mainstream media coverage of a rally which had drawn such a large number of protesters.
This was despite invitations to cover the event being sent to all radio, television and newspaper outlets.
“I remember last year we had about 800 people present and once again there was no media coverage, yet that same week an article with a photo appeared in a major daily newspaper about 15 people waving pro-abortion signs on the steps of Parliament House,” Ms Martin said.
Also speaking at this year’s Rally for Life were Julie Robinson, wife of Mark Robinson, the State Member for Cleveland; Maria Bozikis, wife of Fr Anastasios Bozikis, of Brisbane’s Greek Orthodox Church; and National Civic Council (NCC) state president Luke McCormack.
Mrs Robinson drew on her studies for a Masters in Social Work to warn that a significant number of women (conservatively 10 to 20 per cent) would suffer severe psychological and emotional trauma following an abortion.
She also noted that, given 90,000 abortions are carried out each year in Australia, this represents a significant group of women being affected – between 9000 to 18,000 Australian women every year.
Mrs Bozikis spoke of the pressure brought to bear on her to abort her unborn child suspected of having Down Syndrome, despite her attending consultations with her husband clearly identified as an Orthodox Christian priest by his traditional black cassock.
She said their son Theo, now “a lively seven-year-old”, had been born with Down Syndrome, “and is a loved and cherished part of our family as are his brothers and sister”.
Mr McCormack launched a new website votersforlife.org.au to guide voters in the next state election towards pro-life candidates.
All talks were held against a background of noisy protest calls in support of abortion from a small group of about 20 placard-bearing protesters watched over by a contingent of police.
Archbishop Bathersby told the rally that “Jesus would never have tolerated such a situation (abortion) for one moment, nor should we”.
“Jesus decided to shape a new world through love where people would reach out to others with love, care and concern,” he said.
“It is that type of world that Jesus gave to us through His life, death, and resurrection.
“Today we live in that world and thank God for it, aware at the same time that although evil had been ultimately conquered by Jesus Christ it is still capable of raising its ugly head driven by worldly power for reasons of sheer selfishness.
“Down through history the loving power of God has largely triumphed over evil such as slavery, nevertheless other evils still remain; poverty, sickness, violence, the abuse of women and children, but above all the enormous destruction of unborn children driven by a power that is evil …”
The archbishop said: “All of us have a right to life whether we are old, young, sick, healthy, adults or children, born or unborn.
“Sadly however, each year throughout the world, millions of unborn children are destroyed out of pure selfishness, sometimes horribly, sometimes painfully, and yet millions of people accept those deaths as if they are a normal part of life.
“In fifty or a hundred years’ time people will look back on our culture and ask ‘How on earth was it allowed to happen?’.”
Mrs Martin said she would rate the 2011 Rally for Life a great success in highlighting the importance of opposing proposals to decriminalise Queensland’s abortion laws.
She is now preparing to organise a group to attend Washington’s huge annual rally, the March for Life to oppose abortion, to be held next January.
This year’s event on January 24 drew an estimated 400,000 people.
