Vic abortion legislation one step closer

Victoria's politicians will have blood on their hands and face retribution for backing a bill to decriminalise abortion, shouting protesters warned in parliament on Friday. Emotions ran high as members of the Legislative Council voted 23 votes to 17 in favour of contentious legislation seeking to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks by removing it as an offence under the Crimes Act.

While pro-life lobbyists were outraged, their pro-choice counterparts were rejoicing
after Friday's vote took the Abortion Law Reform Bill one step closer.
The vote passed on the bill's second reading, with debate on 25 proposed amendments
to continue before a final resolution is agreed.
Earlier, upper house president Bob Smith told the public gallery he understood
people had strong feelings about the issue and minor outbursts would be permitted -
but anything more would not be tolerated.
But as shocked members of the pro-life lobby realised abortion was a step closer to
becoming legal, there was an outcry.
One man yelled out: "I've sat here for three days listening to this ... the blood is
on your hands ... children will be killed" as he was dragged out screaming by
security guards.
A woman then shouted: "there will be retribution in this country over this ... shame
on you ..." before she too was evicted.
After the vote, a visibly shaken Pro-Life Victoria president Denise Cameron said the
fight to stop abortion would continue.
"This debate is by no means over ... and I think in the cold light of day when the
politicians leave the rarefied atmosphere of parliament house, they will wake up to
what they've actually done," she told reporters.
"The people of Victoria will be very horrified to know how they're thinking in
there. We're in this for the long haul. This is the slavery debate of today."
Former premier and long-term women's rights advocate Joan Kirner welcomed Friday's
result as an overdue step that lifted a burden from women.
"It was fantastic to see people from all sides of the house standing up to make sure
that women were no longer potential criminals if they had abortions and their
doctors were protected as well," Mrs Kirner said.
"That's been 45 years of hard work ... and it's very moving really to see it finally
happening."
Women's Affairs Minister Maxine Morand, who sponsored the bill in the lower house,
said she hoped the legislation would soon be enacted without amendments.
"I'm optimistic that despite the fact this will be a long debate over the
amendments... that we'll still see the bill go through in unamended form, I'm very
hopeful and optimistic that the bill will go through," she told reporters.
If all amendments are dismissed, the final vote will be held in the upper house, but
if some are passed, it will head back to the lower house for another vote.
Its passage will depend on a crucial proposed amendment to the conscientious
objection clause which says doctors who object to abortion must refer a patient to
another practitioner who does not.
An emotional Democratic Labor Party (DLP) MP, Peter Kavanagh, said he felt nauseated
at the result.
He received a standing ovation after a three-hour speech slamming the legislation in
parliament on Thursday night.
"I didn't feel good about it, I felt sick," Mr Kavanagh said of the vote.
Premier John Brumby was confident the legislation would receive the final tick of
approval.
"We'll now have in place in Victoria legislation that will take abortion out of the
criminal code," Mr Brumby said.