TOP NSW CITIZENS SAY ABORTION IS NOT A CRIME
PROMINENT NSW citizens have come out in support of abortion decriminalisation - signing on to publicly support the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill before it returns to the NSW Upper House next Tuesday.
Company directors, arts leaders, religious ministers and judges are among the prominent citizens to come forward and urge parliament to support the bill in its present form.
The support comes ahead of a rally this Saturday in Hyde Park where members of the public will call for NSW politicians to trust women and treat abortion as healthcare.
Justice Elizabeth Evatt AC, who was the first judge of the Family Law Court, is among the prominent citizens to support the reform. She said abortion access and equity was an issue she had tracked through her career and especially since her role as Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Human Relationships 1974-76, which was the first real national inquiry into abortion.
"These 119-year-old-laws are long overdue for reform. We have been urging this change for 50 years. It is high time we stopped the criminalisation of women and doctors and improved healthcare," Justice Evatt said.
Renata Kaldor AO, Former Chair of The NSW Women's Advisory Council said "This is not a political issue, this is a health rights issue. There is a lot of scaremongering when it comes to abortion. The fact is 1 in 4 women will have an abortion in their lifetime and those women and their doctors deserve a safe and regulated health care regime to support them to make informed decisions.
Jillian Broadbent AO, prominent and respected company director said, "We have to move into the 21st century and support this long overdue Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill."
NSW Pro-Choice Alliance Chair Wendy McCarthy welcomed the support saying it was important leaders took a stand in support of women and their healthcare.
"Abortion can be a very emotive issue and as we have seen through the NSW decriminalisation debate, confusion and misinformation can rage without the input of trustworthy, prominent and expert leaders," Ms McCarthy said.
"These eminent citizens are all prominent not only in their own industry but also across the wider community. I am delighted to see them standing in support of the one in four NSW women who will have an abortion and standing by those women who have felt disrespected, shamed and trivialised by the current abortion debate."
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PROMINENT CITIZENS
Helen Bauer - Private citizen
Jennifer Bott AO - Arts manager
Antoinette Braybrook - CEO, Djirra
Jillian Broadbent AO - Company director
Elizabeth Broderick AO - Private citizen
Barbara Cail AO - Private citizen
Penny Carl-Nelson - Private citizen
Justice Elizabeth Evatt AC - First judge of the Family Law Court and Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Human Relationships 1974-76 which was the first real national inquiry into abortion
Cassandra Goldie - CEO, Australian Council of Social Service
Revd Simon Hansford - Moderator, Synod of NSW and the ACT, Uniting Church in Australia
Catherine Harris AO - company director
Jane Jose - Author
Renata Kaldor AO - Former Chair of The NSW Women's Advisory Council
Helen Lynch AO - Private citizen
Elizabeth Ann MacGregor OBE - Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Wendy Machin - Patron Regional Opportunities Australia
Rev Dr Margaret Mayman - Minister, Pitt Street Uniting Church
Julie McCrossin AM - Member, South Sydney Uniting Church
Sam Mostyn - Non executive director
Joanna Quilty - CEO, NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS)
Jane Schwager AO - Non executive director
Anne Summers AO - Journalist and Author
Mary Vallentine AO - Arts Manager
Claudia Karvan - Actor
Kathleen Conlon - Non executive director
Dr Lisa O’Brien - CEO Smith Family, CEW
Marika Calfas - individual capacity
Yasmin Allen - Non executive director
Anna Funder - Writer
Helen Rowell - Deputy Chair, APRA
Sue Cato - Partner, Cato & Clegg
Anastasia Clarke - CFO, The GPT Group
Nicola Wakefield Evans - Non executive director
Claerwen Little - National Director Uniting Care
Violet Roumeliotis - CEO Settlement Services International
Nicki Hutley - Private citizen
Lyn Morgain - Private citizen
Dolla S. Merrillees - CEW Member
Anne Loveridge - Non executive Director
Melinda Conrad - Non executive director
Catherine Brenner - Non executive director
Dr Kerryn Phelps AM - GP and Former President AMA
Maxine Brenner - Non executive director
Wendy McCarthy AO - Chair NSW Pro Choice Alliance
Adj. Professor Ann Brassil - CEO Family Planning NSW
Moya Dodd - former Matilda
Claire Mallinson - National Director Amnesty International Australia
Pamela Pearce - Private citizen
Robyn Sexton - Private citizen
Diana Ryall AM MAICD
Professor Larrissa Behrendt
