By Susan Price
MELBOURNE — Support is broadening for a pro-choice demonstration on April 4. April has been nominated a "month of pro-choice action" by Melbourne's recently formed Pro Choice Coalition. Abortion providers, ethnic groups, health workers, students, academics and trade unionists have pledged their support.
The April 4 rally will feature a range of speakers and the march will include an action at the old Queen Victoria Women's Hospital site to highlight the number of women who die each year from unsafe, illegal abortions.
Ending at Parliament House, the march will draw attention to the fact that abortion is still a crime and that women cannot rely on judges to interpret the law leniently to allow access abortion.
Activists in the Pro Choice Coalition have debated how to build a broad campaign, including the tactics towards the misnamed Right To Life. This right-wing, anti-choice group will be staging its annual March for Little Feet on April 26. The coalition is planning a counter-demonstration to show that women's lives and rights are more important that the religious views of a vocal minority.
Differences of opinion on abortion have emerged within the coalition. A discussion paper put forward by activists from the Democratic Socialist Party presented abortion as a women's rights issue, and stated that the right of women to control their reproductive lives, in a society which dictates that women's "natural" roles are as housewives and mothers, was a fundamental issue of self-determination.
The paper also stated that abortion affects (or has the potential to affect) women from all classes. This was opposed by the International Socialist Organisation and some Left Alliance activists who argued that abortion is a "class issue", saying that "ruling class" women can afford to seek terminations in other states and therefore are not affected by abortion laws in Victoria.
The so-called class position fails to acknowledge that women from all classes are oppressed as a sex under capitalism. While women from different classes are affected to different degrees, the outlawing of abortion affects all women.
Women's socioeconomic position certainly affects access to limited abortion services, however so do other factors such as age, ethnicity and geographical location. Young women, in particular, are often reticent to seek help with an unwanted pregnancy, and do not have the financial resources to afford an abortion.
Women from non-English speaking backgrounds have difficulty obtaining accurate, non-judgemental information about abortion services, and do not have access to the Medicare rebate.
Geographically isolated women confront a lack of basic medical services and the pressures of obtaining referrals from a doctor who may be the only one town.
Clearly, repealing the abortion laws would benefit all women. For the campaign to succeed, it must involve as many pro-choice people as possible. That means it should not be confined to parliamentary or legal processes alone. The key to winning real change is organising a sustained campaign of mass public pressure outside the halls of parliament.
The Pro Choice Coalition meets every Monday at 6pm at Trades Hall. For further information, telephone Sarah on 9660 2871.