In 2009 I broke the law in NSW and had an abortion. It was not a decision I made lightly. I discovered I was pregnant and carrying the child of my then-boyfriend, who was someone I deeply cared for. But we weren’t in love. At 27, I was at an age when many women I…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * When I first entered the room and upon seeing so many older women, I was unsure if I would feel comfortable as a member of the new generation of feminism. I wondered whether Gloria Steinem, a prominent 82-year-old American…
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On Wednesday, scientists researching the Zika virus in Brazil announced that more than one mosquito species may be able to transmit the virus, complicating further efforts to contain its spread. Previously, the mosquito species Aedes aegypti had been identified as the primary transmitter of the Zika virus. However, scientists were able to infect another, much more common…
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If you so much as logged in to social media in the past few months, you’ve likely seen two hashtags surface: #IStandWithPP and #PPSellsBabyParts. In July, a video surfaced from an anti-choice organisation that allegedly showed Senior Director of Medical Services at Planned Parenthood, Dr Deborah Nucatola, addressing the sale of fetal organs and body…
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The #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag running rampant around social media for the past few days is yet another wonderful initiative to be applauded in our world of ever-growing social consciousness. What began merely as a lovely, honest and unassuming Facebook post by Amelia Bonow became international news as many who understood its cultural and political significance took…
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Australian Government considers GPS tracking for domestic violence perpetrators The federal government says it is considering keeping tabs on domestic violence perpetrators with GPS technology. ‘We want to look at really lifting our game when it comes to dealing with the scourge of domestic violence,’ Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. GPS tracking is presently used…
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We’ve come a long way from the princess in the tower – women, I mean. We make our own decisions now and stand up for ourselves more – and better – than we ever have before, and with more political muscle. Yet we must still be vigilant; there are those who, under the guise of…
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The US state of Missouri legislature is currently considering a bill that would triple the wait time for women waiting to get an abortion. The waiting period would be increased to 72 hours, and, has been backed by sponsor Chuck Gatschenberger, a man who knows what it’s like. The sponsor recently recalled a similar story…
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Another day, another pro-life, male, politician who probably wouldn’t know a vagina from a tree hollow, let alone what actually goes on inside the walls of an abortion clinic. Bernie Finn’s comments regarding abortion as unacceptable under any circumstance and rape related abortions being akin to being raped for a ‘second time’ were neither new…
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Bernie Finn, a member of the Victorian parliament’s upper house, made some comments about abortion this week that shocked even his own party. Mr. Finn was speaking to his local newspaper, the Werribee-Hoppers Crossing-Point Cook Star, when he reiterated to the paper, and all of its unfortunate readers, just why he is anti-choice. ‘In…
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The last two rural abortion providers in Texas have closed, following the state’s passing of an anti-choice law last summer, known as HB2. This law requires abortion doctors to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. The two clinics, both outposts of a network of abortion providers called Whole Women’s Health, stayed open with drastically…
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A Brisbane man has been charged for protesting outside a Hobart abortion clinic. The man has become the first person to be charged in connection with the new anti-protest provisions of Tasmania’s Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act, passed in November last year. Under the act, it is now an offence to conduct a protest…
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In Spain, abortion has been legalised since 1985. However a current Bill being debated in the Spanish Parliament looks set to change that. The new legislation being considered bans the procedure in most cases, allowing only for exceptions regarding a mother’s health and where the pregnancy was induced as a result of rape. Serious birth…
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The ABC has released a report stating that a pregnant Rohingyan refugee couple decided on an abortion rather than have their child face the conditions at the Nauru detention facility. Mamun and Silima Motiur arrived on Christmas Island in early December, and were quickly transferred to Nauru. A damning report issued by the United Nations…
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