Fight Back!

Jail a woman for 7 years because she sought an abortion?

The overwhelming majority of Australians agree: in 21st Century Australia, we can't - and won't - abide 19th Century laws that see Australian women dragged through criminal trials for a reproductive choice.

But a vocal and extremely organised minority is desperately campaigning against change. And they will certainly win - unless we fight back.

This weekend you may have seen the large newspaper ad just paid for by those campaigning to keep abortion in the criminal code. They've spent tens of thousands on misleading polls and on newspaper ads to publicise the results. Now they've taken out graphic billboards showing fetuses, and sent letters to every MP that claim to speak for the majority of Australians. We know that's not true - but we have to prove it, because right now, they may be winning.

We've seen it happen before: a strong majority view beaten back by a concerted campaign from a vocal and extremely conservative minority to scare politicians. Not this time. A group of GetUp members from Queensland are at Parliament House right now, meeting with local MPs. Let's back them up by chipping in to a powerful new campaign. It starts with a huge ad in the Australian newspaper this week, commissioning a Newspoll survey, and if we can raise enough money, booking billboards across Queensland.

Jail a woman for 7 years because she sought an abortion? That's what our laws will continue to do if we don't succeed. But a $20 contribution can help change it:

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ChoiceIsNotACrime

Starting today, a delegation of 40 committed GetUp members are walking the halls of Parliament House in Queensland, meeting with their MPs in this final week of Parliament. They have a tough task: convincing their representatives to take a moral stand in the face of fear campaigns and electoral threats from conservative lobby groups.

Imagine how powerful it will be for those GetUp members to open their laptops and show MPs how many donations are coming in today from people like you. Showing them the latest donation figures in real time will speak louder than words about where you stand, and the action you're calling for. And MPs will know that every donation means more newspaper ads, more billboards, and more spots for our television commercial calling for an end to these arcane laws.

Can you chip in $20 or more to our new ads, poll and billboards to make that happen?

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ChoiceIsNotACrime

We know that abortion is a difficult issue to discuss, and that too often we've seen debates become polarising and ugly. But taking abortion out of the criminal code isn't about having one-size fits all view on the issue - it's about changing a law that is arcane, damaging and dangerous.

Some of the GetUp members in Parliament House today are nurses and doctors who have seen women travel hundreds of kilometres to receive medical advice because Abortion is a criminal act in Queensland. There are even reported cases of couples forced to travel interstate to seek abortions, despite severe fetal abnormalities.1

To remove abortion from the criminal code will require both the Labor party and the coalition National-Liberal parties to allow a conscience vote. Many politicians have told us privately they're prepared to stand up for this, but not without community support. The more money we raise, the more ad spaces we book, the stronger our message.

If you wouldn't stand for a women being jailed for seeking an abortion, please stand up for changing the law by chipping in today:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ChoiceIsNotACrime

In hope,
the GetUp team

1 Dr. Caroline De Costa, "Abortion, Queensland and a law unchanged since 1861", Crikey, 17/02/2010