In the fallout of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was good that abortion rights aren’t a partisan issue in Australia.
“That’s a good thing. It’s good here that we don’t deal with it in the same way that has seen the division in the United States,” he said.
Although not exactly identical, the reaction by some anti-abortion groups and conservative politicians shows there’s an active push to roll back access to reproductive health access in Australia.
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) was quick off the mark to celebrate the decision, calling the decision to force women to birth children a “tremendous victory in the United States” in a Facebook post made at the weekend.
The group — which told Crikey it would support penalties for doctors who failed to observe their proposed bans on abortions in certain situations — reiterated its support for a pro-life movement in Australia: “This is only the beginning.”
Queensland anti-abortion group Cherish Life similarly welcomed the decision, posting several variations on its Facebook page of “BREAKING: Roe V Wade overturned!!! Goodbye & good riddance!!”
ACL managing director Martyn Iles went further. He linked the movement to ban abortion to a broader focus from conservatives on preventing children being “corrupted with immoral filth as early as possible”, alluding to the conservative movement’s renewed focus on children that’s restricting them from accessing LGBTIQA+ support and being taught “critical race theory”.
Some Australian conservative politicians also recognised the decision. Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan, who has attended anti-abortion rallies and spoken in Parliament about his desire to roll back access, tweeted: “A wonderful day to protect human life.”
Undeterred by his expulsion from the Liberal Party over radical anti-abortion stance, Bernie Finn rejoiced on Facebook: “SCOTUS has overturned Roe v. Wade. This is a great day for the world!”
Family First national director Lyle Shelton predictably also heralded the Supreme Court’s decision. Shelton argued that “SCOTUS has simply brought the US back into line with other countries, including Australia”, conveniently ignoring the fact that overturning Roe v Wade so that states’ law decides means, practically, that abortion is likely to be unavailable in nearly half of the states due to existing abortion bans.
On Sky News Australia, however, host Rowan Dean sought to play down that Roe v Wade has anything to do with abortion, somehow. (Seen here talking to James Morrow.)
“It’s like how the Black Lives Matter stuff wasn’t about race or black people; and how climate change isn’t about the end of the planet or protecting the planet. This abortion decision is yet again fomenting hatred of the family, hatred of the West, hatred of the institutions of the West, to tear down and attack everything that the West holds dear,” he said.
“It’s nothing to do with abortion.”
