AUSTRALIA, June 28, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Abortion and other life issues are taking a seat at the rear of the bus in the campaign leading up to Australia’s national election on July 4, with pro-life candidates downplaying their convictions to prevent them from becoming an issue.
One pro-life candidate’s campaign manager told LifeSiteNews not to mention his name, saying, “It would only hurt him.” All the same, the state pro-life organization was looking for members willing to man polling stations on election day.
Why the circumspection? Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull offered some insight during a a TV show when pro-life medical student Ashley Leong asked about babies who survive abortions only to be left to die by hospital staff. “What Ashley describes is a shocking case … but this is very much a matter within the jurisdiction of the state government,” Turnbull said.
Turnbull, the leader of a conservative coalition comprising the Liberal and National parties and a pro-life supporter, told a “Questions and Answers” audience, “I’m not passing the buck.”
When the moderator asked Turnbull “if anything here conflicts with your Roman Catholic faith,” Turnbull repeated. “This is very much within the jurisdiction of your Parliament here in [the state of] Queensland.”
Miss Leong, a student leader and collegiate debater, related that 27 babies had survived late-term abortions in Queensland hospitals in 2015, “but each of these 27 babies were not rendered care and allowed to die.” She added, “As a medical student who has seen many deliveries and loving care of premature babies, nothing is quite so horrifying as letting a baby perish in a clinic. Is it not the federal government's onus to protect all citizens, especially those who cannot speak for themselves?”
The abortion issue has been shoehorned into the election, which is otherwise being fought over the health system, paid parental leave and corruption by the pro-abortion Labour Party. The Australian version of Emily’s List is formally backing selected Labour candidates in a possible attempt to distract voters from the party’s claim that the Coalition intended to privatize the medicare system.
Right to Life Australia has opted for a counter-campaign.
“We’re not backing any pro-life candidates directly,” the organization’s Mary Collier told LifeSiteNews. “But we are telling our supporters to put anyone on Emily’s List last on the ballot.” (Australia uses a preferential ballot system.)
The pro-life group has distributed a series of postcards to members in different states identifying those on Emily’s List running for either the Senate or House of Representatives.
The laws vary state to state, from abortion on demand to abortion when the mother’s health, including mental health, is threatened. In one state, there is a ban on abortions of unborn babies who are viable.
The Coalition of Liberals and Nationalists is well ahead of Labour with a week remaining.