On Monday afternoon, the appointment of Tanya Davies as the new Minister for Women was immediately soured when she admitted during the press conference to being "personally pro-life." The Minister for Women, "personally", does not believe in a woman's right to choose.
When asked if she planned to change anything about the current abortion law, Davies said she was "waiting for a brief," prompting NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to step in and say that there would "obviously be no change in policy," and that Davies' personal views would not affect her governing for the women of NSW.
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How do Australia's abortion laws stack up?
We compare the laws surrounding abortion in Australia and the rest of the world.
This simply is not good enough. Abortion is technically a crime in NSW – one that can attract a 10-year jail term – and women are only able to access it by an interpretation of the law that enables doctors to make a medical exception on the basis of the pregnancy causing a woman physical and mental harm. This means that even in a medical emergency, doctors need to get approval before they can perform the procedure.
This is not choice. And in a parliament that not long ago almost saw foetal personhood granted via Zoe's Law, it is of serious concern that the minister whose job it is to champion women's rights does not "personally" believe women have the right to make choices for their own bodies and lives.
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At the time, Davies spoke in favour of Zoe's Law – a bill put forward by Christian Democrats leader Fred Nile that would have granted personhood status to a foetus of 20 weeks gestation, and set in motion a potentially disastrous precedent for women whose reproductive choices are already substantially curtailed by NSW law.
Davies has promised her "personal" pro-life stance wouldn't impact her ability to govern on behalf of all women in NSW. But how can that be, when she already has form for voting against women's interests, in favour of a bill that would add foetal personhood to the already-complicated "legality" of abortion in NSW?
Let's get one thing clear. When it comes to being "pro-life", it has nothing to do with "personally". And while we're here, let's also call pro-life by its correct terminology: Anti-choice.
If you personally wouldn't have an abortion for whatever reason, that doesn't make you "pro-life". Only a desire to stop other women from making their own choices is "pro-life", which is why the correct term is actually anti-choice.
The so-called "pro-life" movement says a life that hasn't even begun is more important than the self-determination of a living, breathing woman. And it seeks to control women's reproductive choices through punishment, rather than providing women with as many safe, accessible, legal alternatives – including surgical and medical terminations, in addition to contraception.
By restricting safe, legal options, women's lives are literally endangered. How is that "pro-life", exactly?
The pro-choice movement is not pro-abortion. It's as much about providing women with opportunities for safely giving birth as it is for avoiding and terminating pregnancy.
But being pro-choice means you understand, regardless of your "personal" beliefs, that providing safe, legal abortion is essential. Without it, women will be forced to find other ways to control their bodies and their lives. No woman should ever be put in a position whereby she is forced to go through a pregnancy she does not want, or risk her own life to stop it.
A woman who is against abortion for herself but respects and honours other women's choices is, in fact, pro-choice.
A woman who is against abortion for herself but respects and honours other women's choices is, in fact, pro-choice. So which one are you, Minister? Pro-choice, or anti-choice?
Berejiklian stated, in defence of her choice of Davies for the position, that there would be no change in policy. Well, the Liberal party's policy is not pro-choice: it's to maintain the status quo, keeping abortion in the Crimes Act. So it's hardly a strong defence of the Minister for Women to say that under her, the party policy won't get even worse for women.
In August last year, Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi introduced a private member's bill to remove abortion from the Crimes Act. That bill is set to be debated this year. Can the women of NSW expect a self-described "pro life" Minister for Women to represent their interests and support such a move?
NSW needs a Minister for Women who will actually fight for women's rights, who is willing to put reproductive rights on the table – not to wind them back, but to bring this state in line with Victoria, ACT and Tasmania, where abortion is decriminalised as a medical matter between a woman and her doctor.
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