NSW opposition leader accuses anti-abortion campaigner of 'brazen bullying', political threats
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has accused anti-abortion crusader Joanna Howe of "brazen bullying" after she threatened his leadership if he supported an abortion access bill currently before parliament. The bill would allow practitioners and endorsed midwives to provide drugs to terminate pregnancies of up to nine weeks. Labor and Coalition members have been allowed a conscience vote on the bill, which was introduced by Greens MP and former GP Amanda Cohn. Mark Speakman leader of the NSW Liberal Party. (Kate Geraghty) Speakman told parliament last night that he was in "shock" over an email Howe had sent him on Monday. "Should Premier Minns vote for the bill and enable its passage, I will be leading a 20-month campaign across five marginal seats that are currently Labor-held, but are also in socially conservative electorates," Howe said in the email. "If you choose to vote for the bill, I will be left with no other choice but to suspend my planned campaign against Labor, in order to lead a public campaign aimed at encouraging a grassroots opposition to you as Liberal leader." Speakman said he would not cave into "brazen bullying" and would support the bill. "I won't cave in to brazen bullying like this, nor to the Americanisation of New South Wales politics," he said. "I will vote according to my conscience to balance difficult and sensitive ethical, social, moral and medical concerns. "I think that, on balance, the bill will make no material difference to the rate of abortion in New South Wales. "It will not interfere with freedom of conscience and will probably lead to better, not worse, health outcomes for many pregnant women seeking abortions." Joanna Howe is a law professor and one of the country's most vocal voices against abortion rights. (LinkedIn) Howe, a law professor and one of the country's most vocal voices against abortion rights, is based in South Australia but has been in New South Wales to rally and protest against the bill alongside former prime minister Tony Abbott. In a social media post today, she said Speakman "can't handle the democratic process". "Just to be clear, it's not bullying to do everything within our power as the people to topple this spineless coward, which make no mistake, we will do," she said. In its original form, the abortion access bill had four elements: allowing practitioners and midwives to provide abortion drugs for early-stage pregnancies; making doctors with conscientious objections to abortion to have to refer the patient to a practitioner who would provide the service; removing mandatory reporting requirements; and ensuring abortion services were within a reasonable distance from homes across the state. All but one of those proposals — allowing practitioners and some midwives to provide abortion drugs for early-stage pregnancies — were stripped from the bill and a watered-down version is now before parliament. The amended abortion access bill is expected to pass this week. Politics
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