Displaying items by tag: bubble zones

My constitutional challenge to Victoria's abortuary exclusion-zones was heard in the Australian High Court from October 9-11, 2018. Graham Preston's challenge to Tasmanian exclusion-zones was heard alongside mine. Please click here to learn more about exclusion-zones. Please click here to follow the progress of this case of the High Court of Australia website.  

Queensland has moved a step closer to decriminalising abortion with Labor's outrageous bill set to be put forward in August. The bill will draw heavily on Law reform Commission recommendations, and take extreme abortion laws existing in other states even further. While mainstream media emphasises that abortion would be made legal up to 22 weeks, there is less emphasis on proposals for babies over 22 weeks' gestation. That may be due to the public's distaste for late-term abortion: Premier Palaszczuk wants to allow abortions to full term, with merely a sign-off by a second doctor required.

John Young has summarised the submission made by my legal team to the High Court of Australia, which we propose will show that abortion-facility exclusion zones are unconstitutional. The entire document is 24 pages long and can be read here on the High Court website, along with submissions from the Attorneys-General of the states and territories, and the Commonwealth Attorney-General - all of whom oppose us. American readers may be interested to note that SCOTUS and the Massachusetts bubble-zone case are mentioned in our submission on page 12. Careful readers will see that, on the day of my arrest, twenty police officers were briefed regarding my life advocacy within the exclusion zone. Twenty.

 In the wake of the passing of another  'Safe-Access' zones bill,  a NSW MP has sanctioned the idea that violence against life advocates is acceptable. Emma Husar, Labor's member for Lindsay, made the comment in a thread on her public Facebook page.

Abortion activists are at it again, attempting to introduce bubble-zones around New South Wales abortion facilities. As stated many times on this website, these so-called 'safe-access zones', also known as exclusion zones, are designed to stop advocates for life from offering assistance to desperate women who feel pressured to abort their children. They also hamper the freedom of political communication which should exist in a free society like Australia. Exclusion-zone law, very similar to that being proposed in New South Wales will be under the scrutiny of the High Court of Australia this year due to our legal challenge. Any politician who is realistic about the fiscal and time constraints that apply to our parliamentary system wouldn't dream of introducing legislation that has a constitutional cloud hanging over it.

Three Canberra men were recently acquitted of the charge of violating an abortuary exclusion-zone. Kerry Mellor, John Popplewell, and Ken Clancy, have witnessed outside the Marie Stopes facility for many years. After a protest-free exclusion-zone was introduced in 2016, they continued to engage in quiet, personal prayer, which they believed did not constitute a protest. The prosecution had argued that praying constituted 'a protest, by any means', although a security guard who was called as a witness conceded that the men's prayer was silent.

Before exclusion-zones were introduced, the Melbourne Helpers of God's Precious Infants were able to help many women choose life for their children. On average, one mother and her baby were saved from abortion every month. That number has dwindled significantly, thanks to the totalitarian "Safe-Access Zones". But Richard Grant explains how God continues to provide for vulnerable mothers and their preborn children:  

With bubble-zones in two Australian states and two territories, and abortion advocates lobbying for their introduction in other states, it’s important to realise just how many babies are saved through the intervention of sidewalk counsellors. This story is about one such baby, named Ava. Ava’s mama, Nancy, suffered for many years after her two abortions. She wasn't told there could be side-effects, such as severe emotional disturbances or subsequent miscarriages. Nancy is now a very strong advocate for life and is active on social media exposing abortion and encouraging mothers to choose life. 

This testimony was written by Kirk Barker from the USA especially for The Freedoms Project. His family's story has appeared on Live Action, Save the 1 and on many other websites, and has been an inspiration to many people. Kirk and Chass are passionate campaigners who set up the pro-life organisation, Cameron's Chance, after Chass heroically chose life for their child. Kirk underwent a massive conversion because of his experience and today credits prayerful sidewalk advocates outside the abortion facility with saving his baby.

 If a woman is about to enter an abortion facility and a person praying outside the facility offers her help, is this person acting immorally? I have just been told of a lecturer in a Catholic institute who stated that such a person is breaking the moral law. His reasoning was that the action of this pro-lifer will do no good but only harm. Why? Because the woman seeking the abortion has already made up her mind – otherwise she would not be there. So the pro-lifer offering help won’t achieve anything. But she will do positive harm, because her action with be upsetting to the woman about to have the abortion. The situation, then, according to this lecturer, is that no good will be done and the woman who is already under stress will be further upset.