Fed: Don't keep overrule powers on RU486, Democrats

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2006
Fed: Don't keep overrule powers on RU486, Democrats

(EDS: Reissuing, inserting dropped word in intro and amending spelling of Lyn in second par)



By Danny Rose

MELBOURNE, Feb 12 AAP - Federal parliament must not give itself overrule powers on
RU486 if it votes to hand control of the abortion drug to an independent medical body,
the Australian Democrats say.

Democrats leader Lyn Allison is one of four cross-party women sponsors of a bill passed
by the Senate last week to effectively remove control of RU486 from the health minister
and give it to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

The lower house vote is tipped this week to support the bill, but speculation is mounting
that it could be amended to give the parliament the ability to overrule the TGA's final
recommendation.

Senator Allison said such an amendment to her upper house bill would force the Australian
community to have the abortion debate "over and over and over".

"We cleared that up about 30 years ago," Senator Allison told reporters in Melbourne
today, adding that abortion is both legal and controlled.

"I think it's a problem if the prime minister is imagining that the best way forward
is to give the parliament the final say having allowed the TGA to approve, or at least
assess the safety of, RU486.

"At the end of the day what will the parliament determine? It's going to second-guess
the TGA on safety?

"I think we're going to have the abortion debate over and over and over.

"Every time a new abortive agent comes on the market it will have to come back to the
parliament and what will the debate be about? It's going to be about abortion."

Senator Allison said the vote in the upper house had sparked a wave of lobbying, letter
writing and an advertising blitz by anti-abortion campaigners last week and she expected
this to intensify.

"I'm fairly confident that it will still win but, yes, the next week is going to see
some pretty hectic lobbying on the part of those groups," she said.

She said opponents of the bill had launched a scare campaign, adding: "It's more dangerous
to take viagra, it is much more dangerous to even take aspirin than it is to use RU486."

She also urged lower house MPs to consult widely before deciding which way to cast
their conscience vote.

"Ask your wives and ask your daughters, not just the local priest or local men's group,"

Senator Allison said.

"Find out what women in your electorate would like you to do about this vote."

AAP dr/jt/sd

KEYWORD: ABORTION DEMOCRATS (REISSUING)

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