US President Barak Obama’s decision to overturn America’s ban on aid money funding abortion has put renewed pressure on the Rudd Government to do the same.
Thankfully, Australia does not have to blindly ape America on everything.
Many Christians strongly support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to increase overseas aid to poor countries but would be appalled if this money was going to fund abortion.
But a cross party group of politicians has been working behind the political scenes to divert some of Australia’s limited overseas aid money to fund abortions. Yet, Australia has never funded abortion through its aid program, and, at Senate Estimates hearing last year officials admitted that there have been no requests from overseas countries for Australia to fund abortion services.
Australia has a longstanding Federal Government policy which prevents our aid money from being used on abortion advice, services and drugs. However, the current policy provides for safe and effective family planning methods, including contraception. This policy is outlined in the Family Planning Guidelines for the AusAID program.
The push for this unrequested and radical alteration to Australia's aid program comes from the cross-party Parliamentary Group on Population & Development (PGPD). This group of politicians seeks to impose their own pro-abortion ideological stance on Australia's aid program - and the Government seems to be giving serious consideration to their request!
The PGPD was exposed last year pushing for taxpayer funding of late abortions for disabled babies to save money from the disability services budget. In a submission to a Senate Inquiry lodged by PGPD chair Labor Senator Clair Moore, the group argued that disabled people are expensive to look after therefore Medicare should continue to fund late abortions.
Several politician members of the group later distanced themselves from these radical views and one Senator resigned from the PGPD when he discovered this idea had been put forward in his name. Click here to read the PGPD submission which alarmingly argues for eugenics on pages 10 and 11. But there’s more to this tale. The PGPD’s submission is a cut- and-paste (word-for-word) copy of the submission lodged by Jane Singleton of the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance. Surprise, surprise, Claire Moore and Jane Singleton appear in The Age hard-on-the-heels of Obama pushing their radical abortion agenda and urging Australia follow America.
Not content with taxpayer money being used to kill off our disabled, they want more taxpayer money for abortion this time to kill babies in poor countries in a misguided attempt to help.
Supporters of the change say that because over 500,000 women in poor countries die in childbirth each year, Australia needs to help fund abortion services in those countries.
But surely the solution is to fund maternal health programs to help women experience a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery? Rather than provide abortions, we need to improve developing nations’ health systems so mothers and babies can be offered appropriate medical treatment. A simple $2 birthing kit could cut maternal deaths in developing countries by up to two thirds.
Australia's aid program should continue its current focus on helping to improve the lives of people in poor countries by improving access to clean water, nutritious food, healthcare, housing and a clean environment. The limited funds available for aid should not be used to destroy unborn children but to provide better care for them and their mothers.
