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ACU graduates chose to remain ignorant of the toll of abortion
When the Allied armies marched into Germany in 1945, an American general whose troops had liberated a concentration camp was so appalled by the suffering of its surviving inmates (most had already died) that he ordered the inhabitants of the neighbouring village to file through the camp buildings and witness for themselves the horrors that had been done there.
The local people were traumatised by what they had seen and reported this violation of their personal space to Eisenhower. They were immediately offered counselling by US Army psychologists and the general was sternly disciplined. The War Department published an apology for the distress he had caused them.
This scenario is, of course, an absurd fiction.
In real life, General George Patton did indeed force residents of Weimar living near Buchenwald to file past evidence of unspeakable Nazi atrocities. Archival footage shows women sobbing and fainting. It may have seemed cruel, but those civilians had averted their eyes from these horrors (or so the Americans believed) and they needed to witness the unbelievable cruelties which had taken place in their own neighbourhood.
I recalled this footnote to the history of World War II after hearing that staff, students and guests had walked out of a graduation ceremony at Australian Catholic University because the invited speaker, a distinguished trade unionist, Joe de Bruyn, had averted to a contemporary horror. “Abortion is the single biggest killer of human beings in the world, greater by far than the toll of human life in World War II,” he said. Those few who remained gave him a standing ovation but most had closed their ears long before.
Some readers, sadly, may think it outrageous that I imply an equivalence between the crimes of Hitler's totalitarian government and the termination of late-term unborn children. I’m not, for a comparison of evils may have the effect of trivialising either or both. I simply assert that too many good men and women remain silent when terrible things are done in this world.
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Recently the upper house of the parliament of South Australia narrowly rejected (10 to 9) an amendment to the state’s abortion law that would have required people wanting to terminate their pregnancy after 28 weeks to undergo an induced birth so that their babies could be adopted.
The defeat means that the current law stands: late-term abortions remain legal at any time after 28 weeks. (Read the ABC's account of these events here.) If the amendment had been successful it would have been a small step in our progress (if there can ever be any) towards a world in which the unborn are recognised as human and therefore precious. A major campaigner towards that goal is lawyer Dr Joanna Howe: “make abortion unthinkable” is her catchcry.
The mass walkout at ACU was inspired by a different slogan – “make abortion invisible”. The protesters ignored the awful reality. It must have been a set-up: de Bruyn had provided the university with the full text of his speech several weeks in advance, and as a well-known and long-term vocal opponent of abortion his views can hardly have been surprising. One observer reported that people started to get up and leave immediately the word “abortion” passed his lips for the first time. I guess it served as its own trigger warning.
As if this isn't absurd enough, the institution where this occurred was the Australian Catholic University. What is it about the word Catholic, one wonders, that that academy's staff and students don't understand? To add insult to injury, the ACU has offered counselling to students who were distressed by what they were forced to hear, and offered a refund to those who felt their ceremony was spoiled by having to listen to unwelcome opinions. This in a university! What a world we have become!
Is walking out an appropriate response to disagreeable viewpoints?
David Daintree AM is director of the Christopher Dawson Centre for Cultural Studies in Hobart, Tasmania. He served as president of Campion College from 2008 to 2012.
Image credit: Bigstock
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Emberson Fedders commented 2024-11-04 17:12:13 +1100He will, Anon Emouse, because the suffering of real, actual women is this purpose of these cruel policies in the first place.
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Anon Emouse commented 2024-11-01 09:38:36 +1100David,
What do you say to the toll of abortion laws on women in states?
https://abc7.com/health/28-year-old-woman-dies-after-being-denied-care-for-miscarriage-report/15493152/
Will you turn a blind eye to it? -
Juan Llor Baños commented 2024-10-31 19:35:26 +1100I think it can be very useful to clarify what is true and false in the use of contraceptives to read “Reading between the lines. A critical history of contraception” by Gonzalo Herranz et al. Ed Amazone
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Maryse Usher commented 2024-10-31 10:29:19 +1100Thank you, Juan. Not only does the contraceptive Pill (the description is a lie – it does not even prevent conception, and it does cause the newly conceived individual to be poisoned by a chemically-altered endometrium – but so does the IUD act as a hostile agent in the womb,
A middle-eastern young woman I was counselling on a pregnancy/abortion crisis line told me her "aunties’ – older ethnic women – were telling her, peering at her face, “You are losing your babies”. She was on the Pill. I informed her that the Pill not only (sometimes) prevents ovulation, but it also (sometimes) acts as an abortifacient. Plummeting Parenthood Inc. has also reported 50% of its baby-exterminating clients became pregnant on the Pill.
Some women in post-abortion grief therapy groups can pinpoint the moment they knew they had lost a child and sometimes could name the sex.
Given the devastation barely able to be articulated by women who have had abortions – and by the fathers of aborted babies – it’s not difficult to wonder at the incredible bond between an embryo and his/her mother. The connection and symbiotic relationship is myriad and dynamic whether the woman wants the baby or not. “wanting” and “planned” are inadequate descriptions of the labile attitudes of parents at any stage of the process, from realisation up to and including old age of parents and offspring. -
Juan Llor Baños commented 2024-10-31 09:59:10 +1100It is scientific evidence, universally proven, that contraceptives induce abortions, especially in the first days after fertilization. That is their purpose. The contraceptive induces a state of non-receptibility in the endometrium for the newly generated embryo, achieving its contraceptive purpose by facilitating abortion. The pharmaceutical industry that is dedicated to this is very clear about this.
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mrscracker commented 2024-10-31 07:21:53 +1100Yes, that’s what I had commented on earlier to Mr. Juan. Oral hormonal contraceptives that rely on patient compliance have a higher failure rate & corresponding higher rates of feticides. Longterm contraceptives do not. Ad that goes for sterilizations, too.
“This paper provides evidence from 20 countries that long-acting and permanent methods, if widely used, can substantially reduce the number of unintended births and induced abortions, and can decrease levels of unwanted population growth” -
Anon Emouse commented 2024-10-31 07:05:23 +1100And Mrs. Cracker, from the conclusions area of your source:
“We estimate that, if traditional method users switched to short-term modern methods, an average of 10 percent of unintended births and 22 percent of induced abortions could be prevented.”
“This paper provides evidence from 20 countries that long-acting and permanent methods, if widely used, can substantially reduce the number of unintended births and induced abortions, and can decrease levels of unwanted population growth.”
“Effective contraception can go a long way toward averting unintended births and induced abortions, and can help families and countries achieve their health goals”
So the conclusions from the research you provided, mrscracker, indicate that contraception is a net reduction on abortion rates. -
Anon Emouse commented 2024-10-31 06:51:52 +1100Failed contraceptive use =/= availability of contraceptives
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mrscracker commented 2024-10-31 06:06:33 +1100Lots of copying & pasting. Sorry:
The Impact of Contraceptive Failure on Unintended Births and
Induced Abortions: Estimates and Strategies for Reduction
“…Figure 1 demonstrates the percentage of live births that were unintended compared with the percentage of
pregnancies that were terminated. In countries with low levels of pregnancy termination, the percentage
of unintended live births is generally higher, a pattern particularly pronounced in the sub-Saharan African
and Latin American and Caribbean countries. In countries with high levels of pregnancy terminations–
particularly Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Ukraine–the level of unintended births is much lower, a
finding highlighting that in these countries unintended pregnancies are more likely to result in an abortion
than in a live birth.
Table 3 examines the percentage of births that were the result of contraceptive failure, across the different
categories of wantedness. Between 1 and 7 percent of reportedly wanted births resulted from
contraceptive failure. This finding is consistent with previous studies that have found substantial
proportions of contraceptive failures to end in reportedly wanted births (Trussell, Vaughn, and Stanford
1999; Cleland and Ali 2004). The percentage of unintended births resulting from contraceptive failure
varies widely across countries, from 5 percent in Malawi to 58 percent in Morocco. Between 7 and 59
percent of births that were mistimed, and 3 to 59 percent of births that were unwanted, were the result of
contraceptive failure. While there are considerable differences across countries, the percentages of
mistimed and unwanted births that resulted from contraceptive failure are generally quite similar within a
country.
Similar to the pattern seen in Table 2, the percentages of pregnancy terminations that result from
contraceptive failure also vary dramatically between countries where abortion is restricted (2-10 percent
in the sub-Saharan African countries) and where abortion is widely available (34-53 percent in Vietnam
and the European and Eurasian countries).
*In countries with abortion data, the percentages of induced
abortions that resulted from contraceptive failure are even higher, at 36-65 percent. That is, between one
and two out of every three induced abortions result from failed contraceptive use.* ..”
https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/as22/as22.pdf -
mrscracker commented 2024-10-31 05:50:12 +1100I’m a very poor sort of Christian Mr. Fedders, but I do appreciate the kind words. You have a blessed day.
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Anon Emouse commented 2024-10-31 04:17:16 +1100More evidence that contraceptives do reduce the rates of abortions:
https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/2003/03/relationships-between-contraception-and-abortion-review-evidence
https://www.barnesjewish.org/Newsroom/Publications/Innovate/Spring-2013/Access-to-free-birth-control-reduces-abortion-rates
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4000282/
Reducing access to contraceptives won’t reduce abortions rate:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/reducing-access-to-contraception-wont-reduce-the-abortion-rate/
It does seem to me that if you want to reduce abortions, access to low cost (or free!) contraceptives has proven effective. -
mrscracker commented 2024-10-31 03:52:32 +1100It is scientifically proven that contraceptives do not reduce abortions, but rather encourage their occurrence"
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That’s true Mr. Juan but if I remember correctly about that study, it referenced hormonal contraceptive pills. Not long term contraception. Those aren’t good for women’s health either but they don’t rely on remembering to take a daily dosage. -
J�nis T. Ozolins commented 2024-10-30 22:32:11 +1100It is very sad that we live in a society where the killing of the unborn is seen as a right. Worse that a Catholic university apologises for the Catholic view that killing unborn children is morally wrong. No amount of sophistry will make it right.
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Anon Emouse commented 2024-10-30 22:23:59 +1100
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Juan Llor Baños commented 2024-10-30 19:36:33 +1100It is scientifically proven that contraceptives do not reduce abortions, but rather encourage their occurrence. This has been the devastating contribution of contraceptives in the world, encouraged by the huge profits of a good number of pharmaceutical laboratories.
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Emberson Fedders commented 2024-10-30 14:27:26 +1100“At that point he shows that he is out of sync with civilised morality, not merely Christian but Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu – and atheist.”
Please. Every single one of these groups euthanized babies. And humans were doing that long before any of these religions were invented. -
Emberson Fedders commented 2024-10-30 14:24:57 +1100Forcing women to be give birth (and indeed, be pregnant) against their will is cruel.
Indeed, so much of what passes for Christian thought around here is simple cruelty.
Hating on gay people. Mocking transgender people. Thinking you have the right to force people to act like you want them to act because a bunch of 2000-year-old stories says to.
I do believe in euthanizing babies that will linger for a few days and then die anyway. That is an act of mercy and compassion. Forcing a child to linger is the height of cruelty.
The version of Christianity that I see around here is simply grievance, control, coercion and cruelty. I’m sick of it.
With the exception of Mrs Cracker. I don’t always agree with her positions, but from what she has revealed about herself indicates that she actually is a Christian ie one that follows the teaching of Jesus and shows compassion for all his flock. -
David Daintree commented 2024-10-30 12:04:50 +1100I would probably let Emberson’s remark pass if he had not said I lied. I am perfectly willing to be told that I erred, or was misinformed, or even that I am stupid. But I did not lie.
He observes that ‘late term abortions are almost always performed because the baby will not survive anyway’. That may be true, I don’t know, but please note his words ‘almost all’. So would adoption be possible in some cases then? I don’t know the answer to that either, nor I suspect does Emberson. Several midwives have given evidence on this point and that’s in the public record.
But the really big issue with Emberson’s comment is that he clearly believes that it is OK to euthanise children ‘with severe abnormalities or deformities’. At that point he shows that he is out of sync with civilised morality, not merely Christian but Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu – and atheist. The very best argument I ever read against abortion was by the atheist Dominic Lawson. -
Emberson Fedders commented 2024-10-30 10:52:30 +1100Well, Ms Usher, that is your opinion. I am happy for you to live life the way you best see fit. I would hope you return the courtesy.
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Paul Bunyan commented 2024-10-30 09:46:47 +1100Ms Usher, what is so evil about contraception? Do you think there’s something evil about having consensual sex for pleasure, without having to worry about pregnancy?
Contraception reduces the need for abortion, and the spread of STDs. The invention of the contraceptive pill was the most beneficial invention of the last 200 years. -
Maryse Usher commented 2024-10-29 23:59:11 +1100The world I grew up in is ending. How can western nations possibly survive the holocaust of abortion? Its devastating effects are n0t confined to those who are killed; but abortion damages the mothers, fathers and corrupts all who commit , promote, and profit from it. Economies tank, violence and psychiatric conditions accelerate, families collapse and violence surges. All because we have legislated killing the most innocent and helpless human beings on earth: our future.
The Catholic Church has always maintained contraception and abortion are grave evils. This is truth and fact, and contemporary child sacrifice to the idols of materialism and feminist “liberation” from the natural consequences and purpose of sex, will never prove beneficial.
Those responsible for failing to impart knowledge of the natural law (Thou shall not kill) and particularly the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae – reiterating Catholic teaching against contraception – will be called to account before a judge who has no time no truck with fashionable social evils. -
Juan Llor Baños commented 2024-10-29 18:59:56 +1100Very good article!!
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Emberson Fedders commented 2024-10-29 17:24:24 +1100An article that is pro-forced birth that starts with a description of a Nazi concentration camp. Is this really how you plan to convince people to change their minds?
“Recently the upper house of the parliament of South Australia narrowly rejected (10 to 9) an amendment to the state’s abortion law that would have required people wanting to terminate their pregnancy after 28 weeks to undergo an induced birth so that their babies could be adopted.”
David, you really are being disingenuous here. You are of course implying that women who have an abortion after 28 weeks have simply changed their mind about having a child. You KNOW this isn’t the case, so I wonder why you bother lying about it? Do you think your readers are really that silly?
In reality, late term abortions are almost always performed because the baby will not survive anyway. Women who are forced to make these decisions are carrying fetuses with severe abnormalities or deformities. There is no option to ‘adopt them out.’ What the legislation was actually going to do was force women to give birth to a baby that was either dead or going to die. It’s not about being ‘pro-life’ but a seemingly sinister attempt to make women suffer for some fringe ideological position.
Disappointing, David, very disappointing.
And yes, it is perfectly fine to walk out of a speech you don’t want to hear. What’s the alternative? Lock the doors and FORCE the audience to listen to the guy? -