As abortion advocates begin to agitate for abortion law reform in New South Wales, it is a good time to revisit the kinds of misinformation that our politicians may be using to frame their decision making. In the lead up to Tasmanian reform, women's groups including Hobart Women's Health Centre, Family Planning Tasmania, and Women's Legal Service Tasmania, produced a document entitled End the Confusion. This publication not only misrepresented public opinion about abortion, but sought to mislead and misinform both politicians and the general public about several important issues surrounding abortion.
We addressed these issues in our own publication, Mass Confusion.
Following this, we also put in a submission to the Tasmanian government, noting with particular concern many of the very misleading information that was provided to the committee during the debates about this legislation. Whilst we are yet to see the substance of any proposed law reform in New South Wales, we can be assured that the proposals will be similar in nature and that our parliamentarians will be similarly misinformed.
Read the documents. Understand the issues. Recognise how confusing this can be for those who look to others for trustworthy and reliable information, and who then make decisions on our behalf. Make sure they hear the facts.
As a woman who is struggling to make a decision about abortion I have found your website and many others to be totally misleading. It is quite obvious you all have your own agendas and not really interested in helping women with their decisions but rather promoting your own views and this does not help women in any way whatsoever. Shame on all of you , if you don’t approve of women making their own choices regarding pregnancy then at least have the courage to tell us what you are really about and not pretend that you actually care .
Hi
I am sorry that you are struggling with this decision and I hope that you are able to find all the information you need to feel fully informed about all of your options. The information contained in our website is absolutely accurate and is designed to ensure that every woman has access to the information she needs to fully understand the short and long term outcomes of her choices.
As a woman, I absolutely believe that women are autonomous, capable people who can make their own decisions. Making your own decisions means you also have the right to all of the necessary information. Our agenda is to ensure the availability of that information, nothing more.
I am more than happy to answer any questions you have about the information, and direct you to the sources of information if that would be helpful for you. I would be very interested in your feedback about exactly what you find misleading so that we can ensure our information is clearer or so that I can provide further clarity for you of you like.
In the meantime, I hope that you feel well supported and are not having to traverse this decision making journey too alone.
Regards
Debbie Garratt