Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Melbourne (Fides Service) - Archbishop Dennis Hart said the ban on RU 486 abortion pill must remain. The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne said this in a statement issued ahead of the scheduled 9 February parliamentary conscience vote on a private members’ bill to overturn current laws and allow the Health Minister decide access to the drug RU 486 which produces a chemical abortion. The Bill is sponsored by a group of female senators and MPs. A Senate committee is currently considering the Bill and is due to report back to parliament the day before the vote.
In his statement the Archbishop recalled that the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion is well known, “It originates from our belief that human life begins at conception” he said. “Statistics indicate that most Australians, regardless of religious affiliation, feel that too many abortions (about 90,000 a year), especially later term abortions, already take place” the Archbishop said, underlining that more choices other than abortion are needed and that society should act constructively to encourage and support families and mothers in order to saves lives and avoid abortion. He pointed out the Melbourne archdiocese, along with the entire Catholic Church of Australia, already provides some of these solutions
The Archbishop ended his state with a paradox: “With one in four pregnancies in Australia ending in abortion, the abysmal fact remains that the most dangerous place for an Australian to be is in the womb of his or her mother”. (Agenzia Fides 25/1/2006 righe 25 parole 257)
