RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: OZschwitz: Gloves come off in battle over abortion  Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:03 pm | |
| LEO J. Powell isn't one for subtlety. The representative of the Coalition for the Prosecution of Prenatal Child Killers, Mr Powell recently sent leaflets to state politicians depicting a late-term abortion in cartoon form. "The child killer jams scissors into the baby's skull," it reads. The leaflet carries the politicians' photograph: "Is this to be his 2008 legacy to you?"
Abortion has always been highly emotional, but observers say the debate over whether it should be decriminalised in Victoria - even though it has been widely available for 40 years - has been particularly vicious.
It has also thrown up new coalitions; for the first time, says pro-life activist Kirsten Jack, the eastern-suburban Pentecostal and evangelical churches have played a key role alongside the traditional opponent of abortion, the Catholic Church.
Anti-abortion groups are unapologetic about their tactics, but others say they are abusive and go beyond acceptable lobbying. Cabinet minister Jacinta Allan was so upset by the box of animal organs she received in the mail, as well as "abusive correspondence and phone calls", that she referred the matter to police.
Dozens of plastic foetuses have been sent in tiny boxes to politicians and a number of MPs say their electorate officers have been upset by callers accusing them of being, among other things, murderers.
The lobbying is expected to intensify when the bill, which passed in the lower house last week, moves to the upper house on October 7. A Sunday Age survey of Legislative Council members found an almost even split, with as few as four undecided members critical to whether it will pass or be defeated.
Andrea Coote, one of the relatively few Liberal pro-choice MPs, says the tactics have been offensive. She has received letters and emails, one reading: "Perhaps we ought to start an 'Adolf's List' … It is a dark day for Victoria, notwithstanding that all the foetus-killers are ecstatically popping their corks in anticipation, like ghouls at a vampires' feast."
"Most of these people are elderly, and most are men," Ms Coote said. "There is a format to them: in the last week they have been identifying themselves as Catholics, and we've also been getting telephone calls that are very abusive."
The mysterious Leo Powell appears to be a freelancer. None of the mainstream pro-life groups have heard of him. He is a former serial litigant in the Family Court who is apparently still bitter about being forced to sell his Strathmore home.
Mr Powell, who could not be contacted, seems to be partly motivated by revenge - the address on his leaflet is that of the house his family law dispute forced him to sell. He has not lived there for years, and he falsely claims that his campaign is funded by the real estate agent that handled the sale.
The mainstream pro-life lobby organisations have also been active. Right to Life Australia and the Salt Shakers church are involved, as is the Coalition Against the Decriminalisation of Abortion, representing dozens of organisations, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.
The most aggressive is the Tell the Truth Coalition, which in March sent leaflets to a claimed 250,000 homes with graphic pictures of allegedly aborted foetuses apparently covered in their own blood and tissue.
"Tell the Truth is mainly aimed at marketing the issue of late-term abortion; bypassing the media and accessing the public directly, mainly through our massive manpower," spokesman Paul Waadural said.
Mr Waadural, 29, is a Catholic who says his organisation's graphic approach represents only "5% of the pro-life lobby", but which is "unfortunately a necessary part of the education process".
Last week, Mr Waadural sat at home monitoring on the internet the late-night abortion debate in the lower house, then sent personalised emails to the BlackBerries of pro-life MPs, chastising them for their vote. Mr Waadural said he had sent 30 to 50 emails, which typically buzzed the politicians as they sat down from speaking. Mr Waadural urged one MP, Don Nardella, who spoke about contraception, to put a condom on his head.
Tell the Truth, according to Mr Waadural, is made up of activists drawn from Catholic churches and from Pentecostals.
The founder was long-time anti-abortion activist Ron Van Wegen, who in the past has faced a number of charges over his activities outside abortion clinics. But Mr Waadural said Mr Van Wegen was "a bit less active now". The group had no paid staff, was not incorporated, and had spent the $70,000 in funds it had raised from "generous members of the community" entirely on the campaign.
He said it was run by eight core activists, whom he would not identify, and, of the group's convener he said: "I don't know if he'd want me to give his name."
Right to Life Australia is the best-known of the pro-life groups. Spokesman Marcel Smith, a Catholic convert, said there was no formal link between his group and Tell the Truth, but that he personally had delivered leaflets on their behalf in his spare time.
Right to Life's contribution was to urge its supporters to lobby politicians. It also sent letters to MPs under the name of its president, Margaret Tighe, saying Right to Life would "not hesitate to take action at the next election … against those who sanction the killing of the most vulnerable children in Victoria".
Mr Smith endorsed the policy of sending plastic foetuses to politicians, saying that "developmental models of young children are certainly used in campaigning, it's part of a peaceful campaigning process … and Right to Life supports it wholeheartedly".
As for the objections of Jacinta Allan, Mr White said he was "sceptical", because their whole philosophy was of "peace and non-violence".
On the other side of the debate, the most aggressive stance has been taken by the socialist women's groups.
Anti-abortion Liberal MP Donna Petrovich said she had found that the most offensive comments were from supporters of model "C", the more liberal option than the one proposed in the bill.
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