Declining " Church Powers " !

The clash between the law and religion is in sharp focus here in New South Wales.   We are the last Australian state to still have a law that dates back to colonial days on our law books that forbids abortion and stipulates a ten year prison sentence.  This is a law that is widely disobeyed because in practice abortion here is freely available from abortion clinics because we choose to allow it in mitigating circumstances.

That stipulation contends that it is lawful when it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman or the fetus and it is in the attending doctor's discretion to decide whether mental health fits that exclusion from the law - and many do.  What has stirred the religious community is a private members bill to remove that antiquated law from the law books and give women the personal freedom to decide how many children they will deliver.

It is likely this law change will be decided by way of a conscience vote in the state parliament and religious leaders are lobbying to have it struck down.  If that were to happen, we would have the ridiculous situation of human practice continuing to disobey a state law and the abortion industry would be unabated.

It is quite clear that the population of Australia is becoming less religious and this is illustrated in each census.  The number of people who tick the " no religion " box is ever growing and the number who attend church services mirrors that decline.  When a voluntary plebiscite on same sex marriage was held the result ran contrary to the view expressed by the religious community and same sex marriage became the law.

Despite its retreat, religion is still a motivating force with many Australians but religion does not speak with a united voice.   Some religions were content to express their opposition to abortion but disregard the availability that was taking place.  The Catholic church is an implacable opponent and is leading the movement to disallow this law review.

What we should remember is that this is a vote to rescind a law that is not being obeyed, not a vote to put in place a new law that forbids abortion.   If this vote fails then virtually nothing changes, until public opinion forces it again to be considered by the parliament.  Politicians who resist the will of the people who elect them usually suffer accordingly in support at the next election.

There is a certain inevitability that this abortion restriction will be removed from the law in New South Wales.   It just depends if the current politicians are courageous  !