What kind of a sick, evil nation do we live in, where pregnant rape victims are held to ransom by the Government? What kind of vicious society forces a vulnerable woman to endure a pregnancy and consequent childbirth, against the strongest recommendations of doctors, simply to gain political points in a nasty campaign?
How tragic that S99 was raped while enduring an epileptic fit, causing her to become pregnant, in the months preceding a federal election.
How gruesome and abhorrent for Dutton to deny that he holds a duty of care to S99, all the while whisking her off to a third world nation where termination is illegal, to get rid of the problem.
How inconvenient for decision-makers, that refugee advocates keep trying to hold them to account, when they would prefer ‘policy’ was adhered to, even where that puts a woman’s life and mental health in danger.
There is a huge difference, emotionally, psychologically, and physically, in an abortion carried out in the first trimester, compared with the second or third. Yet this is not the first time that a woman who has suffered a violent assault while under the care of the Australian Government, who has requested a termination as soon as they have known about their condition, has had medical treatment delayed or denied.
And for what?
So a minister can use these innocent women as political playthings to satisfy the bleatings of the ignorant.
This is a government who sees no issue with torturing human beings who have sought asylum in Australia. A government who is content to subject real, live, viable human children to such awful conditions they are some of the most traumatised that health professionals have ever seen.
Yet these same animals delay a simple medical procedure for a vulnerable woman until it requires surgical intervention, because of politics.
And even then in some cases, delay it further, until the desperate woman, now able to feel the unborn move in her belly, is too conflicted to undergo the operation.
The ideology of the Australian Government puts these women in danger; Liberal and Labor politicians who defend the island concentration camps.
It is an undeniable fact that if not for their incarceration on Nauru, these women would not have been raped and consequently pregnant at this time. These women have been raped on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s watch, while under Dutton’s care. He cannot abrogate this responsibility. It rests with him.
Yet not only does he deny he has responsibility, he delays, day by day, week by week, month by month, the necessary medical treatment for these desperate women.
Even when a woman wants a pregnancy, many suffer from daily sickness and obvious physical side-effects. Anxiety, stress, depression, fear, and apprehension are all common. For women who have become pregnant from rape, forcing them to endure this for even a week through lack of action, is abhorrent.
Every week is critical. Every week delayed puts more torment on that poor woman and makes the moral decision even harder for women who may be culturally opposed to termination but quite simply cannot face having a child.
These politicians, forcing their moral opposition to termination on rape victims, by deliberate legal and bureaucratic delays, is vile and the worst kind of abuse.
The trauma and suffering the self-righteous moral crusaders inflict on these women is a million times worse than terminating a pregnancy.
Dutton and his cohorts erroneously insist the boats have stopped, they insist that lives have been saved, that no one has drowned in Australian waters under a Liberal Government.
Yet when a woman is raped while under Australia’s care and becomes pregnant, Dutton and his Department knowingly delay intervention, forcing a women to undergo the most riskiest journey of her life; pregnancy and childbirth: A journey, which in in a first world western nation, rarely results in death, but in third world countries accounts for almost 800 deaths a day.
How much more trauma does this Government intend to inflict to attempt to gain electoral advantage? Will S99 be forced to enter her third trimester before she is allowed a safe and legal abortion, simply because Dutton is fearful the floodgates of women deliberately allowing themselves to be raped and impregnated just to get into Australia will be opened?
The inhumanity is disgusting. The moral repugnancy is astounding.
Dutton’s actions, or more accurately, inaction, is repulsive.
This Government must stop holding pregnant women to ransom. It must stop exposing vulnerable women to sexual assault and abuse. It must stop denying it has a duty of care, and stop refusing immediate medical intervention.
The Coalition and Opposition are both complicit in the torture and abuse of innocent men, women and children. It cannot claim any moral fortitude by opposing the termination of an unwanted pregnancy.
Using rape victims as pawns for political point-scoring is vile. Refusing or delaying safe, legal termination of unwanted pregnancy when care is readily available, is a deliberate act of bastardry.
Under any other circumstances, the Government and authorities would be slammed viciously for their lack of action, but no, the Australian public allows this to continue, and endorses, with its silence, Dutton holding pregnant women hostage.
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To answer your first 2 questions Eva – the answer is a Liberal National Coalition government. (Though of course you know that already).
Their ideology just blinds them to normality and reality. They are so out of touch it is not funny. Too much at stake for the future of this country. They are “alright Jack” and have no interest in anyone or anything else. Im surprised the polls currently have the LNP and Labor about 50/50. My feeling is that its in fact leaning Labor’s way, but voters are not too sure of committing themselves in such a long campaign, waiting to make up their minds when they hear a bit more. And Malcolm is more likely to falter in the next 8 weeks, than Bill Shorten.
Comment removed due to its abusive nature to the author.
Could the AIMN’s moderator please note that “MISERABLE” who has posted above, appears to be a troll. Subscribers should only comment on the content of the articles, not attack the writer. The AIMN is normally refreshingly free from trolling pests.
It has saddened me that this young lady was transferred from Nauru to Port Moresby PNG for a termination and had it not been for the intervention of our Federal Court she may have had this intervention in a third world country – apologies to PNG – and then flown back to Nauru.
Why not take her to New Zealand where at least she will be beyond the reach of Dutton and his like ; as it is, we don’t really know where she is.
Where is the public outcry, have we become so conditioned to these outrages visited on these people that we no longer see them as human beings ?
We need to hear from Rosie Batty who has a high profile with politicians, we need to hear from women’s groups throughout Australia.
Peter Dutton does not represent all that is generous and decent in our society.
Why the embarrassed silence, this is being done in our name and at our expense ?
Yes Terry, I do think “we” have become conditioned, become numb at the outrage after outrage that the LNP has foisted on us. They have been so totally unresponsive to the people of Australia, I think people have pretty much given up hope of effecting any change. Lets hope they vote for a change of government, at least the Labor Party policy on refugees, although keeping the stop the boats bit, does state that refugees will be treated humanely. There is no reasonable excuse for what the LNP have done on Nauru and Manus, and the hobbling of journalists, and the outrageous 1 billion dollars they have spent on the whole thing.
Peter Dutton is despicable but Scott Morrison set the tone. His actions have made a mockery of his maiden speech to parliament in 2008:
As with Malcolm Turnbull, and I note quoted by Adam Bandt on Q&A, “These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.” That is the reality of the Liberal liars – no principle is worth sticking to if there are votes in abandoning it.
We live in a nation that has been shocked by Islamic terrorists at Martin Place, Cronulla and Parramatta to name just a few incidents.
Townsville, and our own home-grown Aussie blokes manage to kill two women a week… their own partners and at times their children too…
Hardly something to be proud of. Would you call it domestic terrorism.
And there you have it. “Enlightened” Australians eager to have their scapegoat on whom to blame their woes.
I used to be incredulous how Hitler managed to con an entire nation. But seeing how easy it appears to be to stir up the mob, even in an apparently civilised “Christian” country, is simply astonishing.
And like Canada, we should welcome these refugees. They will enrich and improve our society. One wonders why there has never been an approach to break the people sugglers business model at the front end of it rather than the back end.
Oh, and the MSM ignores the appalling treatment of this rape victim. Shame
He has no duty of care but is free to dictate and interfere with what someone does with their own body. It’s one or the other.
I had also not considered KL’s point before her article the other day – Dutton states those on Manus are the complete responsibility of the PNG government but he’s able to dictate they can’t go to New Zealand! It’s doing my head in.
And @Miserable… all I can say without abuse is that yes, you do seem miserable. I try not to judge anothers position but I just pity you.
townsvilleblog,
“We live in a nation that has been shocked by Islamic terrorists at Martin Place, Cronulla and Parramatta to name just a few incidents.”
Ummmm….the assessment of Martin Place was that the gunman was “a very unusual case—a rare mix of extremism, mental health problems and plain criminality.” He was well known to the authorities who ignored all the warning signs. He shot one person that day – the police killed two people and wounded four others.
The Cronulla riots were a shameful display of racism from drunken yobbo Aussies.
Parramatta was a case of cowardly thugs geeing up a kid.
The only terrorism problem that we have in Australia is the tragedy of some of our children being groomed online.
As helvityni points out, women in Australia are at FAR greater REAL risk from their intimate partners than from any dog whistling bs about terrorists.
If we have social problems with unemployed or marginalised youth then we need to do better at providing support and encouragement to help them to become productive members of society. Your sort of discrimination and intolerance only adds to the problem.
All of this has absolutely nothing to with the plight of the people who came to us seeking asylum from the very terrorists you abhor.
Yeah, cheer up, Miserable. Imagine how much sadder you’d be if you worked for the government!
Re Miserable: Your state of mind. Your outlook. Your life. Fly off…
Re townsvilleblog: You have done it, begone!
As for Dutton: Leaving the politics aside, no humanity in your decisions. Only scum act like that. You may fly off together…
You know i dont think there is a huge swarth of the population who support locking these poor people up in concentration camps,and the rapes and the murders that are happening, and the so called ”’ Christian Lobby” who are against safe school and same sex marriage and trans gender folk,they are always a tiny minority with a big voice and a bit of clout who know a few influential people,basically bullies just like this Townsville and that other ” Miserable”’ bastard.
The Labor party should stand on a principle of closing gulags and on shore processing,and if it’s a fair well thought humane policy the majority of Australians will support it,maybe not at first because it is entrenched in some quarters,they may even lose the first time they try,but in the end they will prevail,all it takes is compassion,and the most important ingrediant”” Courage.””””
Agree with BB.
I see the trolls name and pass over the comment, unread.
Kaye, you are such a good a writer/researcher that I’d be really happy if you let the troll’s trolling pass by without comment. I understand your desire (and ability) to bring reason and truth to the troll’s attention, but we all know that trolls wither when they fail to elicit attention. The troll writes purely to disrupt discourse – trolls are a cancer on dialogue.
Kaye – your time is so important and so needed in bringing us insight, reasoned opinion, and facts on the events of our times – trolls are mere wastrels they do not deserve your attention.
brickbob,
The Labor party should stand on a principle of closing gulags and on shore processing
I agree, but why aren’t they? I think the reason is we’ve arrived at a place, culturally, where most people do want asylum seekers to be stopped and detained offshore. Certainly they may not want the circumstances of such people to be inhumane, but what a person desires and what a person will tolerate, that falls short of that desire, are actually different things.
What I want from Labor is a meaningful social moral debate, but I fear we’re in a political paradigm where that is not even possible.
I personally felt it quite stomach churning that a man such as Dutton should be deciding where and when a woman should be having a termination. Are these people stupid? sending a woman to a country where abortion is illegal in order to have that procedure, effectively giving the woman a choice between not having a termination and breaking that country’s law. How bloody minded can you get. But I can see what is going on in their warped and twisted little minds, that if one woman is raped and gets to Australia to have a termination..then they’ll all be doing it. Because as males of the Abbott mind-set think that abortion is, and I quote from the man himself, “the easy option”.
Phil,
I understand your advice and accept its validity but would nevertheless like to try to explain myself.
Part of it is my desire to speak truth, part is the “standards you walk past” thing, part is the teacher in me, part is my selfish desire to win a debate, and part is to provide arguments for others to use when speaking to their family and friends.
But a larger part is trying to understand another’s fear. It is obviously real for them but completely incomprehensible for others. You cannot allay someone’s fear, however unreasonable it may be, by just discounting it, ignoring it.
My sister was anorexic and spent a long time in hospital basically missing her early teen years. I had to learn to understand that she had a skewed perception of her body when all I wanted to do was say just eat. The way forward was for both of us to try to understand how the other felt. She is now really well 🙂
Carol,
Also quoting from the man himself….
“At university the need to defend Catholicism in a hostile environment had led me to an extremely naturalistic defence of traditional beliefs and disciplines. Abortion was wrong, because it violated instinctive respect for life; contraception, because it was usually part of a “me now” mentality.”
That didn’t stop him from rooting of course because, after all, HE can’t get pregnant and if someone else does well that is their lookout – he has more important things to do than share in the consequences of his “traditional beliefs and disciplines.”
Kaye Lee, I know the last paragraph of your reply to Phil was a way of illustrating a larger point but it struck me so I needed to respond. My (then) 16 yo daughter was diagnosed anorexic and had a considerable hospital stay. I, too, found it hard to understand the mindset that leads someone to find normality in denying themselves an essential thing ie food. It took us all as a family a long time to understand the others position but we did. Thankfully, it was then that everyone’s true healing began. She too is now doing well, 3 years down the road and at uni. A little understanding can go a long way when people feel they are at an immovable impass.
Thank you.
And today both Shorten and Turnbull are shuddering in horror at the idea of being decent and kind to refugees and their children.
They blame smugglers who have never existed but not smugglers are on Nauru or Manus being raped and tortured, the Indonesian crews all went home long ago.
Kaye Lee, it had crossed my mind that Dutton’s mindset might have been based on religion – a way to thwart a woman in her attempt to have a termination. I personally feel ill at the way our government has singled this woman out for their own particular variety of abuse.
As far as abusive comments against asylum seekers go, I was much amused to read a comment from a woman who believed that ‘these people’ should be banned from Australia because..wait for it..they carry GERMS. Germs, gosh, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But in saying that I think that your little rant before that was quite pathetic.
Well, let’s leave it so Eva’s piece can be left alone as best any piece can, but my point demands public analysis afaic. Long overdue analysis.
In terms of the article, when have the pregnant, the elderly, the sick, the disabled not been pawns of government? Every government? It is the lot and fate of every truly vulnerable person in society. Peter Dutton is merely an external expression of the silent demon that resides in all of us. In truth if it wasn’t for the Peter Duttons of the world who can reflect back to us the potential worst part of ourselves, and thereby cause behavioural inhibitions, we’d all be Peter Dutton.
Bad people have their uses.
In Queensland today an independent politician, Rob Pyne, put forward a private members bill to decriminalise abortion.
Remember, this is 2016.
Part of his commentary reads thus;
“It’s not 1899, abortion should not be a crime. The world is changing very quickly and unfortunately our politicians aren’t.”
The 1899 reference is to the Queensland Criminal Code.
“Nauruan criminal law is founded on the Queensland Criminal Code of 1899, as amended by the State of Queensland up to 1921”. After 1921, Nauru amended the Code on its own. Three times, I think.
Remember, this is 2016.
Under Nauru’s law, abortion and attempted suicide are illegal. Notwithstanding the enormous increase in attempted suicide and self harm, I have only read one case of a refugee being charged with attempted suicide. They have buried the successful attempts Or returned the corpse in a shroud, under the watchful eye of his spouse, to the country they had fled (vale Omid). As to abortion, Nauru does not have the medical facilities to deal with it because it is illegal. Abyan and S99 were ‘merely’ two of the cases. Others have included children.
Remember, this is 2016.
Julian Burnside did a book launch for ‘OFFSHORE’ by Madeline Gleeson. Part of his speech reads;
“Modern human rights discourse started immediately after the second world war. When the Nazi concentration camps were opened, the world drew breath in horror seeing proof of what had happened. Most civilized nations resolved that it should never happen again. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was inspired by the horrors of the Holocaust. Most of the great human rights instruments came in the wake of the Universal Declaration.”
http://www.julianburnside.com.au/offshore-by-madeline-gleeson/
In another of the articles on his web site, an activist wrote a letter to the dud. Having read many letters addressed to the dud, I remain impressed with the passion and clarity of the authors but completely unwilling to accept the dud can read. In part, she writes;
“After many of us spent Mother’s Day talking women on Nauru out of suicide, I also take great offence at the suggestion you have ‘intelligence’ that advocates (we) are coaching refugees to self-harm. This is untrue and defamatory, and I demand you provide evidence of this supposed intelligence, or issue a public retraction and apology to all who you defamed with this statement.”
http://www.julianburnside.com.au/a-letter-to-minister-dutton-from-a-refugee-advocate/
This dud, voted in his previous ministry as the worst health minister in history (in a competition with abort/RU486), has gone on to succeed Scummo as the likely ‘worst ever’ miniature for immigration.
This is before our most recent endeavour into refoulement becomes fully known, before the fate of Hodan Yasin is known, or any of our other disgusting, vile, repugnant efforts are revealed.
Such a great article and so many good comments. And a couple of reminders of 1899. This is 2016, FFS. BRING THEM HERE.
Thank you, Ms Cripps. Take care
Garth,
I am glad your daughter is well and I understand the struggle she and your family endured. Anorexia is like watching someone you love commit slow suicide and being incapable of stopping it. We search for reasons of why it is happening. We feel responsible but unable to fix a problem that we don’t understand.
Perhaps that is a little bit like how the parents of our children who have been seduced towards radicalisation feel.
“We live in a nation that has been shocked by Islamic terrorists at Martin Place, Cronulla and Parramatta to name just a few incidents.”
What Townsvilleblog is trying to say is that he is a racist and he hates people of dark colour and strange religions.
Australians have to take some responsibility, after all they voted in this rubbish. If it had been white refugees escaping a civil war in South Africa, and coming here by boats, we would have nowhere near the same hysterical carry on we’ve had for the last 15 years. Most Australians aren’t racist but by and large they are hypocrites. Singing the line from the national anthem ‘boundless plains to share’ with a straight face…come on.
Every word served to Mr Dutton is deserved – this man and the party machine deserve no latitude – they should be held to account in a court such as the Hague International Court of Justice – I do not understand their (NLP) thinking about this and so much more – it is one constant state of distress after another to live under their governance
The Liberals are certainly a dysfunctional and disgusting rabble but those who keep using the plight of refugees to push their own political agenda’s are far worse.
Not sure where you are coming from here but we really need to take this out of the political arena and introduce some compassion, not to mention common sense.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/10/malcolm-turnbull-says-we-must-respect-women-while-washing-his-hands-of-a-nauru-victim
In the meantime Dutton is considering appealing the federal court decision while the young woman languishes in Port Moresby where, incidentally, the planned termination could also be illegal as PNG also adopted the Griffith Code (criminal code) as operates in Nauru and Queensland.
@Disgusted.
Not sure what you meant by that comment. ( May 11, 12.09) Could you please elaborate?
Our government has illegally (under international law) detained refugees in an off-shore gulag run by businesses who receive in billions of dollars and pay no tax. I guess because the gulags are run by private businesses the government can deny responsibility.
One would assume the safety and well being of these unfortunates would be somebody’s responsibility, whether the government who contracted Broadspectrum aka Transfield, or the executives of that company, or even the government of Nauru who profit from this ‘detention business’
The Australian government refuses to allow these detainees resettlement in New Zealand. Why? They’ve achieved their oft repeated goal of stopping people smugglers and preventing drownings at sea (supposedly).
The duty of care of these unfortunate women must rest with someone, especially if that someone is making decisions regarding the when and where of medical procedures required by these victims of crime.
It’s not ‘people pushing a political agenda’, it’s people pushing a humanitarian agenda.
And what’s your political agenda, @Disgusted?
I’m not sure whether Disgusted was having a go at the government or us.
Five men, whose passports had been cancelled, towed a boat from Melbourne to Cairns with a plan to escape from Australia, travel to Indonesia and give support to ISIS in Syria.
Peter Dutton says STOP THE BOAT, you shall not leave Australia !
A certain irony don’t you think ?
PS: why did they go to Cairns, wouldn’t Darwin or Broome be a better jumping off point ?
Terry2, they were taking the scenic route.
Perhaps the question to be asked: If we continue along the lines we have so far what will the end point look like?
Time for a psychological profile of an ideal Minister for Immigration? (and an ideal Australian?)
The courts have declared, Dutton and the department have duty care to people on Manus and Manus. They are lying when they anything else.
The policy is falling apart. Many issues will have to be address whether governments like it or not.
I see one of the problem in this country is very weak journalists who seems to be in politicians` pockets and cannot ask really questions and follow-ups. Politicians are given a bye without being asked really questions on a daily basis. Example of Peter Duton refusing to accept responsibility for the refugees in PNG followed by claiming authority to block a pregnant refugee to be sent to NZ. And all journalists present once again let him off! Australian devote a lot of time on very petty issues.
When are we going to stop feeling sorry for these people. It’s all part of their bigger scheme. No 1. They are illegals. 2. We don’t want them here! I’m sick of people defending these animals. Getting pregnant – is there any proof that she was raped? That’s what these people do. Take a good look at what is happening around the world everywhere these people are allowed in? Oh what’s the point of making a comment here, you are all too busy blaming the journalists, anybody but these people themselves! They should all be sent back to where they come from. Just keep them out of Australia and every other western country! They are a disease that won’t go away!
Wow, weary. You are a genius. A few small problems with de profundis.
They are NOT illegal.
Don’t know who ‘we’ is, but I ain’t with youse.
In the off chance you have never studied biology, we are all animals.
There is no proof anyone was raped, because there was never any investigation.
“Oh what’s the point of making a comment here.” Your words.
Here’s the point of making a comment here. It will be challenged. IMO, you’re vitriol is sorely lacking substance. There is a disease IMO. I’m not sure if you are a symptom, or a cause. Take care
weary
Australia is a signatory to the United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and so you are fully entitled to express your opinions without fear of recrimination – most on this site would stand up and fight for your right to do so.
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
― United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
We are also a party to the Refugee Convention, and Australia has agreed to ensure that asylum seekers who meet the definition of a refugee are not sent back to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened.
There is no conflict in these two propositions unless it exists in your own mind .
Even our own George Brandis has said that everyone has the right to be a bigot. However, we have no obligation to defend your views only you can do that.
weary,
Your fear is ill-informed and unnecessary. My electrician is a Muslim. A couple of kids in my son’s cricket team are Muslims. I have taught many Muslim kids. They are ordinary people, just like you and me. Some are more devout than others, just like the people in my family. I find your hatred very sad.
You are also ignoring the role that we have played in creating an environment where terrorism rears its ugly head. Perhaps had rich old white men not divided the world up between themselves and then raped pillaged and plundered with impunity, then there wouldn’t be such resentment. If we hadn’t stolen the resources from other countries they too might have progressed as we have but instead, we condemned many of them to slavery and many more of them to poverty with no hope of an education.
We then go and bomb the shit of their countries and when they try to flee the very same terrorists you guys love to talk about, you slam the door in their face.
‘Weary’ you are so ill informed – people seeking asylum are not illegal.Other commentators have outlined why.I take issue with your arrogant “sent them back to where they came from”, to be certainly murdered – Is life that cheap for you? – your attitude is a disease – a disease called, having a superiority complex, your attitude smacks of a colonial-like entitlement – We are all part of the “one”, human race, not set apart into parcels, where, some members of this human race are to be set aside, to be designated and labelled as “animals”, and be distinguished from other members of our collective human race – on what grounds or criteria? – There aren’t none. The hateful words you are uttering are a very nasty example of rampant racism, over a matter of Geography.Are you capable of empathy? – can you reverse the situation or put yourself in in their shoes? -You are needing to flee, wanting to live, and wanting to get out of a war torn country – it is almost like you are saying they have no right to escape or no right to get away from being bombed. What is the criteria making them a disease? Borders between countries is a construct , that being so, does not make one area of a world to be segregated from another.What should be stopped is the category of one human being thinking they have a right over another human being, thinking they can take a life of another or bully them into submission to have a certain set of beliefs and kill those who do not want to hold those beliefs.You are lucky you are here, and not there.You are lucky to be able to have the freedom to express your thoughts. I am sad you are so unaccepting of those that are in need of support, because they are in fear of their lives, or, in the case of this woman who was raped, and who needed help as a result of this rape.My parents were in this situation I thank this country for not having your attitude. We contributed as a family to this country just as these people will.Don’t trip over your self righteousness and prejudice