News

Published: 21 June 2021

A peaceful night vigil of 2000 passionate voices at WA Parliament on June 16 declared ‘No life is disposable at any time’ and pledged to “confront our State’s shame and to offer life-affirming help in its place” amid law changes that attack the safety of thousands of women and their children.

Rally co-host and FamilyVoice WA Director Darryl Budge, Nick Goiran MLC, and several other speakers from the WA-based Coalition for the Defence of Human Life, addressed the crowd with the sobering reality that we must change the culture one-to-one, as 190,000 WA lives have been lost to legal abortion since 1998.

The highlight of the night was the heart-warming and shocking testimony of Anouska Firth, who boldly shared that despite growing up in a religious family she aborted two children with full knowledge of what she was doing.

Abortion and attempts to numb the painful truth “was a huge part in my rapid decline into severe depression, anxiety, paranoia and drug abuse,” Ms Firth said.

“I was off and on again homeless, heroin and meth and everything else addicted, facing time in prison for criminal charges.”

After joining the Esther Foundation rehab program in Perth, Anouska went to a Silent Grief Conference, run by Lynn Sirname, where she began to confront the reality of abortion.

“Please hear me clearly now as I say that by the grace of God in His Glorious love, I have not only been forgiven but I have been liberated and set free,” she said.

“No amount of relationships, counselling, medications, drugs, therapy or programs can compare to the perfect and pure love of God. When I faced the truth, I was so horrified in what I had done that I knew only God could save me and forgive me. Praise God by the blood of His son, Jesus, He has.

“I stand before you all now, not a victim of my past, or a condemned murderer, but a forgiven and redeemed woman. The constant torture, torment, shame and guilt that I experienced for years has been completely washed away.”

Mr Budge told the crowd that culture can be turned around by renewing our commitment to provide care to distressed parents and families.

There is hope because several surgical abortion clinics in regional NSW and Queensland have closed, and the rate of abortions per total births in WA is gradually falling below 1 in 5.

Sadly, the heartless WA government has the parliamentary numbers to attack babies even more. “It aims to pass a bill that will lock up anyone guilty of helping a woman in distress near an abortion clinic for 12 months and fine them $12,000,” he said.

Australian Christians party director and rally co-host Maryka Groenewald told the gathering that pushing women to have abortions without providing appropriate care and informed consent is “medical negligence”.

This lack of care also extends to the embarrassing and inadequate palliative care funding which falls short by $100 million in WA, she said.

Over 1000 people signed a petition, open until July 19, which urges the WA Attorney General to release the Coroner’s Court recommendation into over 26 WA babies born alive and left to die. Hundreds of churches will be gathering more signatures over the next month.

Shadow Attorney General Nick Goiran MLC spoke powerfully on the history of this issue, his long running campaign on it, and why the petition will make a difference.

Prior to a sobering minute of silence, Mr Budge reminded the gathering that abortions are now officially at least one in three Australian deaths, and 1 in 5 pregnancies are cut short by violent abortion.

In 2020, Liberal-government-enacted Medicare funding for remote abortion consultations increased the take-up of the RU486 pill that starves the baby of sustenance in the first 10 weeks.  This killing pill “accounted for 2900 of the 7947 abortions in WA, up from less than 3 prior to 2009,” he said.

“As a nation we must reverse this course that is crushing our citizens, as it is crushing our future as well. Australia has descended from a peak of over 3 children per childbearing-age woman to a record low of 1.7.

“We are headed for a demographic winter, a rapidly aging population, unless our nation’s culture and laws embraces and protects unborn children again – and allows pressured and distressed women to freely seek help, while fleeing pressure or abuse, no matter where they are in Australia.

“We are on a trajectory to meet China and Italy at their low 1.3, half of what a self-sustaining country needs.”

The crowd joined in rousing prayers from Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey and Victory Life Associate Pastor Marika Court, and was stirred to action for the unborn by CDHL Vice-President Dwight Randall and to investigate euthanasia protection kits as announced by Steve Klomp of Right to Life WA.

Anouska Firth asked the crowd many sobering questions.

“What are we as a people going to do about it? What are we as a church going to do about it? Who is going to stand and speak for those who cannot?” she asked.

“It is up to you and me to stand and to speak out and say enough is enough! So I implore you—Wake up! Every person has a right to life and we have a responsibility to help them fight for it.”

Mr Budge publicly thanked Nick Goiran MLC and Neil Thomson MLC at the rally for being present and for engaging with the disturbing reality of abortion.

The petition, organised by CDHL president Darryl Budge, is available at http://cdhl.org.au/resources/.

Published: 18 June 2021

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Published: 16 June 2021

FamilyVoice Australia will campaign nationally to ensure that the George Christensen private member's bill to require medical practitioners to provide, under law, a child born alive during a late term abortion with assured medical care.

The bill has been lodged by Federal Member for Dawson George Christensen, and seconded by the Member for New England Barnaby Joyce and is titled Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Act 2021.

“The proposed bill will put in place a reporting requirement for medical practitioners to report children born alive as a result of abortion within seven days. It also underscores the false notion that the bill would require medical practitioners to provide life-saving treatments to non-viable babies” said Greg Bondar, spokesman for FamilyVoice Australia.

FamilyVoice is urging all members of parliament to ensure that a child born alive during a late term abortion remains alive. “The uncomfortable truth is that the child is left to die” added Greg Bondar.

The bill remedies the fact Australia is in breach of two international agreements to which it is a signatory: The Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognise the right to life and the right of access to life-saving health care services.

FamilyVoice supports the bill’s offence provision when no life-saving treatment is provided with penalties of higher than $400,000 for health practitioners and higher for corporations. The bill, which could see health practitioners who breach the law deregistered in Australia, is a proper and appropriate sanction for doctors who fail to ‘save lives’.

FamilyVoice encourages and urges all Australians to lend their support for this bill via its website.

Published: 16 June 2021

A motion by One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts condemning transgender treatments on children has failed, with Coalition senators siding with Labor & the Greens to defeat it.

“The Liberals call themselves conservatives and today we have seen five liberal senators, including ministers, cross the floor to support Australian children accessing irreversible treatments and surgery,” said Senator Malcolm Roberts.

“My motion was about protecting children from these irreversible treatments at a time when a therapeutic pathway should take precedence over a medical pathway.

“It’s a travesty when we let children under 16 years have double mastectomies in Australia”, he said.

Sweden’s leading gender clinic recently became the world’s first to end routine treatment of minors with experimental hormonal drugs.

In Australia, children as young as 10 years of age have been prescribed puberty blockers.

“It’s a sad day for all Liberal voters when their leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, crosses the floor and aligns himself with Labor and the Greens against the true conservatives in his party.

“The gang of five must be called to account for their sellout of conservative liberal values.

These are Senators Birmingham, Hume, Payne, Bragg and Colbeck.”

Speaking after the vote Senator Roberts said, “Adolescence is a confusing time and this is not the time for our children to make irreversible life changing decisions.

“It is no wonder that the Australian curriculum is loaded with anti-humanist, ideological rubbish when the former Minister for Education voted against my motion to protect children.

“Shame on him,” he said.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg was one of a number of Coalition senators who voted against the motion.

“We want to give people the maximum number of choices when they’re dealing with complicated issues as many trans people are. I think the idea that you would remove options like puberty blockers and other medical options from people is not appropriate,” Senator Bragg claimed.

“It’s not for politicians and the senate to be removing options from medical practitioners.

“I think it’s an inappropriate motion and I was pleased to see it defeated.”

Senator Bragg failed to mention that most children who suffer from gender dysphoria come to accept their real gender in time.

How Senators voted