Berejiklian government risks alienating the west with abortion bill
“The Liberal Party should tread extremely carefully in dealing with the attempt to decriminalise abortion in NSW, lest it put off the conservative-leaning voters (particularly in western Sydney) that helped it retain both state and federal government earlier this year. …”
– An opinion-piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, by Nepean Young Liberal Branch President. (via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
Bishop Rick Lewers on the proposed Abortion Bill
“It is a little staggering that after weeks of writing articles on family I have to write in the hope of saving our children from the poor decisions of our politicians.
There is before our State Government the ‘Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019.’ It is a Private Members Bill, but don’t let the title of the Bill deceive you. It would seem that those moving the Bill and those supporting it are too embarrassed to call it what it actually is.
This Bill, if it is passed by the NSW State Government, will significantly change the law on abortion. …”
– Bishop of Armidale, Rick Lewers, has written this column for his local newspaper. It’s also published on the diocesan website. Do read it all.
Unborn children need your help
In an e-mail, the Australian Christian Lobby is encouraging people in NSW to contact their MPs to ask them to vote against a bill which is scheduled to come before the Lower House tomorrow (Tuesday 6th August 2019).
In his e-mail, NSW Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Kieren Jackson, writes:
“What is in the bill?
- Late-term abortion will be permitted to be performed on a baby in the womb (from 22 weeks pregnancy until birth) if a doctor considers it should happen and a second doctor agrees.
- Abortion before 22 weeks of the pregnancy is permitted with no limitations, except that it be performed by a medical practitioner.
- It requires doctors who conscientiously object to abortion to violate their conscience and collaborate in the referral process. They are required to refer the woman to another doctor or health service provider who has no objection.
- It contains no prohibition on sex-selective abortion.”
See also:
The Australian Christian Lobby.
Public Statement from Archbishop Glenn Davies.
Contact details for Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Wangaratta Lays Down the Gauntlet … who will pick it up?
“The Anglican Church of Australia has arrived at the crisis moment that so many of us have feared and warned about.
The Melbourne Anglican reports that Bishop John Parkes of Wangaratta will ask his diocese’s upcoming synod (meeting on the weekend of August 30-31) to endorse a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex marriages and will, himself, be prepared to preside over such a service.
So why this move and why now? Parkes gives his own reasons in the interview but one key factor isn’t noted. …”
– David Ould alerts us to an impending crisis for the Anglican Church of Australia.
Religious leaders to lobby MPs ahead of abortion vote
“Religious leaders will lobby MPs ahead of a vote to decriminalise abortion, after the historic bill was introduced into NSW Parliament with support from across the political spectrum. …
‘This bill allows late-term abortions up to a week before birth, indeed, a day before birth,’ Dr Davies said.
‘When people realise that, I can’t believe for the life of me that these respected parliamentarians would ever put their name to a bill which would kill an unborn baby the day before birth.
‘And I don’t think anyone in NSW would think that is a good idea and why they would promote a bill like beggars belief in my view.’ …”
– Story from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Related:
Barnaby Joyce weighs in on NSW abortion decriminalisation bill debate – ABC News.
Abortion: Life or Death – Martyn Iles.
Law allowing late-term abortions will pass – unless voters call their MPs
“Reader straw-poll: if the NSW parliament was poised to enact the most extreme abortion laws in the country (perhaps in the world), including unrestricted abortion until the moment of birth, should the people of the state be given the barest courtesy of an explanation – perhaps even a modicum of consultation?
That’s the question I have been forced to ask my colleagues this week, after legislators from across the political divide tried to ride roughshod over parliamentary procedure and pass abortion laws that barely anyone in the state has even heard of. If democracy dies in darkness, this week it is on life support in NSW. …”
– NSW Minister for Finance and Small Business, Damien Tudehope, writes an opinion-piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.
See also:
Contact details for Members of the Legislative Assembly.
A Prayer for the Protection of Unborn Children
Next week, a new bill to make abortion more available in New South Wales will be debated in NSW Parliament.
Archbishop Glenn Davies has urged Christians to pray, and to contact local MPs, who will be in the process of deciding how to vote on the legislation.
Archdeacon Kara Hartley has written a prayer you could use at home, or in church:
Heavenly Father, Lord of life, We thank you and praise you that you are the author and sustainer of life and that every person is created in your image and is precious in your sight.
We pray today knowing that our Parliament is considering significant changes to abortion law in this state.
Father, we pray for those among us for whom this is a very personal issue and a source of deep distress. Strengthen and uphold those who grieve the loss of their child. May the love, forgiveness and hope found through Christ be their comfort. As a Christian community give us compassion and understanding for any among us who have faced this situation.
We pray for our politicians, as they come to vote on this issue next week. May they show courage and commitment to the dignity and sanctity of each human life.
We also pray for ourselves. Help us to speak with grace and sensitivity to one another, among our friends and neighbours and with our local MPs. Help us to be courageous and wise in defending unborn children. Help us not to shy away from our convictions, but boldly stand firm in the truth that all life comes from you and is precious in your sight.
For Christ’s sake and in his name, we pray.
Amen.
Also available as a PDF file. (Photo of Kara Hartley courtesy Sam Law.)
O church of God – rise up and pray
“Pray for our brothers and sisters in NSW who are seeing diabolical legislation being introduced into state parliament this week – legislation that permits abortion, regardless of pregnancy term, with only the most generalised and barest of provisos to be met first.
Our church stands with the unborn child: ‘human life is a gift from God from conception’. That’s what’s being attacked – life in the womb. Hear the wailing voice of the unborn – give them a choice. …”
– Presbyterian Church of Australia Moderator-General, the Rev John P Wilson, urgently calls on Christian people to speak up, in prayer, and in messages to members of NSW Parliament, in behalf of the not-yet-born.
Australian Christian Lobby urges NSW Abortion Rethink
“The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed its concern at today’s announcement that laws to liberalise abortion are likely to be introduced into NSW Parliament this week.
‘Supporters of decriminalisation have expressed support for the Queensland and Victorian model, which is among the most radical in the world. It allows abortion right up to the moment of birth, which is barbaric and extreme.’…”
– from a press release by The Australian Christian Lobby.
Related:
“Abortion bill in NSW set to change laws dating back to 1900” – ABC News.
Proposed Victorian Bill is likely to harm not help women
“The State of Victoria wishes to be at the vanguard of the sexual devolution. Sadly, Victoria is already becoming an unsafe place for vulnerable children who struggle with gender dysphoria.
Just as with the recent passing of euthanasia laws, concerns expressed by the medical fraternity were overlooked in favour of radical political and gender theorists…
In their latest effort, the Victorian Government has decided that transgender women are being discriminated against under current laws.”
– Murray Campbell in Melbourne warns about the proposed Victorian legislation.
‘Controversial’ anti-abortion billboard erected on NSW highway
“An anti-abortion ad that was banned from the side of buses is causing controversy again after it was erected on a billboard next to a highway on the NSW north coast. …
Last month, Transport Minister Andrew Constance said he was ‘appalled’ by the same ad, which shows an image of a pregnant woman’s stomach, alongside the phrase: ‘A heart beats at four weeks’. …”
– Story from MSN news, 24 July 2019.
See also: Ooh dumps Emily’s Voice billboard – Emily’s Voice, 25 July 2019.
“We are disappointed Ooh Media has buckled to pressure, removing the Emily’s Voice heart billboard from the Pacific Highway in Belmont NSW. …
Ooh has fallen into line with NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance who banned our ads from Newcastle buses after a Facebook complaint.
Ooh told the Daily Mail the billboard had been reviewed before posting and did not contravene its guidelines, but after public complaints and media attention, decided the message, ‘A heart beats at four weeks’ alongside the image of a woman making a heart over her pregnant belly, ‘could cause offence to a significant section of the community’ and did contravene its guidelines.
We still don’t understand what’s so offensive about the scientifically accurate statement that an unborn baby has a heartbeat 22 days from conception. There’s no mention of abortion, no gruesome images or condemnation of any kind. …
The Minister is ‘investigating’ how our ads made it on to buses, but remains silent on truly abhorrent messages on hire vehicles.
He is appalled by our message yet didn’t intervene to ban recent bus ads for a Newcastle pregnancy support centre, or ads telling women not to drink while pregnant. What’s the difference?” (Read it all.)
Transgender discrimination law in Australia — uncertainties
“It is not uncommon to find popular assertions, in relation to the legal treatment of transgender persons, that the law requires that a person who asserts they are of a different gender to their biological sex, be allowed to use bathrooms set aside for their chosen gender, or that they have a ‘right’ to be addressed by the pronoun corresponding to that gender.
In this post I want to point out that it seems quite arguable that the law in most of Australia does not have this effect. … it is important to be as clear as possible on what the law actually says.”
– Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.
Diocese of the Arctic now in “impaired communion” with other Canadian dioceses
“To all people in the Diocese of the Arctic,
Greetings in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is God Almighty.
General Synod 2019 has just finished. After taking time to meet as bishops, to seek the Lord’s will for our Diocese, to pray, listen and talk, we have prepared this statement for our Diocese and for the Anglican Communion at large. …
We understand that many have walked away from our Anglican Church of Canada’s doctrine, but we have not.”
– Bishop of The Arctic, David W Parsons, and his fellow bishops in that diocese, have released a statement in which they take a stand for the truth.
Read it all, with a clarifying statement, at Anglican Samizdat.
The Eclipse of God, the Subversion of Truth, and the Assault upon Religious Liberty
“Our concern in this gathering is the assault on religious liberty now experienced within the United States and throughout Western Civilization.
The very civilization that paid such an incalculable price through the centuries in order to defend and preserve human rights and human liberty, now grows hostile to the most basic liberty of all. History’s most courageous experiment in self-government, predicated upon unalienable rights, now seeks to alienate the unalienable. The cultural Left in the United States now dares to use the term “religious liberty” only with scare quotes.
How did this happen? …”
– Albert Mohler gave this address in Denver, Colorado, on the weekend.
Open Letter from the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Australia
“Dear friends,
I’m sure you are aware of the current discussion about freedom of religion legislation.
There is a great opportunity at present for us to have a positive influence in the legislative process, and I’m calling on you to consider how you can respond and encourage your congregation to get involved as well.
I’m suggesting three ways in which you can act:
1. I urge you to read the pastoral letter (Download from here) and consider distributing it to your congregation, asking them to contact their federal MP.
2. I’m inviting you to download and print the petition (Download from here). As you do, please consider collecting signed copies of the petition and arranging for them to be mailed to Senator the Honourable Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, PO Box 886, Wollongong NSW 2520. (Note that only originals of the signed petition may be submitted to the Senate, so copies must be mailed).
3. I also draw your attention to an excellent briefing paper released this week by Freedom for Faith (Download from here). It will help you understand some of the complexities of the discussions about freedom of religion. It is aimed at ministers and leaders, so please circulate it to anyone you think would be interested. (Note that while Freedom for Faith supports the appointment of a Freedom of Religion Commissioner, while the submission the Presbyterian Church made the Ruddock enquiry was cautious about that proposal).
with warm regards,
Rev John P Wilson BSc, DipEd, BTh, DMin
Clerk of Assembly, PCV
Moderator-General, Presbyterian Church of Australia.”
– Also posted at presbyterian.org.au. Download all files (Zipped archive.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…