Letters Page, The Australian, RU486

What woman would want to have an unsafe, illegal abortion when she could have a safe and legal one? Health minister Tony Abbott (Opinion, 6/2) claims to be worried that making RU486 available in Australia would lead to backyard miscarriages and an internet-based black market.

Yet Australian history tells us that making abortion illegal doesn’t stop women having abortions, it just increases the risks they take doing so. If he really wanted to avoid backyard abortion and a black markert internet trade, the minister should do all he can to ensure medical abortion with RU486 is done in the front yard. He and his colleagues should vote yes so that the drug can be properly evaluated and regulated.

Publication history

Unknown  The Australian
2006-02-08