3rd November, 04
The Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc said today that Tony Abbott had stepped way over the line of political responsibility in his call for tighter restrictions on abortion. The unabashed promotion of a legally sanctioned form of fertility control stems from a religious upbringing. The expertise needed to evaluate whether an abortion is warranted is not reliably or impartially the result of such religious fervour.
The AFA asks that all politicians elected by the community be representative of the electors. Personal religious fantasies of any particular religion must not become the rule of law for the majority of women in Australia.
If a conscience vote is required by politicians so-affected, then abstinence is the only ethical response open to them.
“If a politician’s religiously imposed conscience is continually at odds with reality, it may well be the time for joining the priesthood instead and desist in interfering negatively with the real lives of real people,” said Keith Cornish, President of the AFA.
The Tony Abbotts of the world are very quick to mention the ‘slippery-slope’ argument but in this case they are hoping for it. Mr Abbott’s real end-result motives are to ban abortion altogether. This is just a first step towards that unachievable and imagined halcyon goal of thought.
The return to the days of illegal abortion or politically restricting women for religious reasons is a giant backward step in the female battle for equality.
A spokesperson for the Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc was not amused with Tony Abbott’s comments. “The scam of religion is becoming more widely recognised. History demonstrates quite clearly that a healthy democracy gains that status when religion is given a back seat in political and personal decision making. Tony Abbott might not be so quick in promoting this dictatorial proposal if he was to become unintentionally pregnant, thus impinging on or ending his career.”
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