CHILDREN BY CHOICE ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

RU486 Medical Abortion - Campaign Success

On 16 February 2006, the RU486 Private Members Bill passed through the Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives. This means that the Federal Health Minister will no longer have the power to veto any application to allow RU486 to be used in Australia. Instead, the appropriate medical and scientific experts at the Therapeutic Goods Administration will have the power to assess the RU486 and determine whether Australian women will have access to the drug.

By removing political interference from medical decision-making, the bill’s passing is a victory for common sense and good governance.

The final vote on the Bill was carried on voices only and the support by MPs was overwhelming. Below is the House of Representative vote result on the second reading of the Bill.  We encourage you to write to your MP thanking him/her if they voted for the Bill. To do this go to www.getup.org.au and follow the links.

House of Representative vote

AYEs

Adams, Albanese, Bailey, Baird, Beazley, Bevis, Billson, Bird, J. Bishop, Bowen, Brough, A. Burke, Cobb, Corcoran, Costello, Crean, Danby, Edwards, Elliot, Ellis, Ellis, Emerson, Entsch, L. Ferguson, M. Ferguson, Fitzgibbon, Gambaro, Garrett, Gash, Georganas, George, Georgiou, Gibbons, Gillard, Grierson, Griffin, Haase, Hall, Hatton, Henry, Hoare, Hockey, Hull, Hunt, Irwin, Jenkins, Jensen, Johnson, Jull, Keenan, Kerr, King, Laming, Lawrence, Ley, Lindsay, Livermore, Macfarlane, Macklin, May, McArthur, McClelland, McMullan, Melham, Moylan, Nairn, Nelson, O’Connor, Owens, Pearce, Plibersek, Price, Prosser, Quick, Ripoll, Roxon, Rudd, Scott, Sercombe, T. Smith, S. Smith, Snowdon, Southcott, Stone, Swan, Tanner, C. Thompson, K. Thomson, Ticehurst, Turnbull, Vamvakinou, Washer, Wilkie, Windsor, Wood.  

NOs

Abbott, Anderson, Andrews, Baker, Baldwin, Barresi, Bartlett, B. Bishop, Broadbent, T. Burke, Byrne, Cadman, Causley, Ciobo, Downer, Draper, Dutton, Farmer, Fawcett, Ferguson, Forrest, Hardgrave, Hartsuyker, Hayes, Howard, Katter, D. Kelly, J. Kelly, Lloyd, Markus, McGauran, Murphy, Neville, O’Connor, Panopoulos, Pyne, Randall, Richardson, Robb, Ruddock, Schultz, Secker, Slipper, Somlyay, Tollner, Truss, Tuckey, Vale, Vasta, Wakelin.

Women MPs make the difference

In both Houses of Parliament, women senators and MPs overwhelmingly supported the Bill. This will please many of our supporters who have campaigned over the years for more women in Parliament!

THANK YOU… 

Children by Choice would like to thank all our members and supporters for your efforts to make our RU486 campaign a success. Many thanks to everyone who contacted their Senators and Member of Parliament. Your voice made a difference!

Children by Choice would like to pay tribute to the courage, strength and commitment of the four senators who sponsored the RU486 Private Members Bill in the Senate: Senator Claire Moore (QLD ALP), Senator Fiona Nash (NAT NSW), Senator Lyn Allison (VIC Dems) and Senator Judith Troeth (LIB VIC). These senators worked very hard promoting the importance to Australian women of the Bill and enlisting their Senate and HOR colleagues support.  Special thanks to Senator Claire Moore and her staff for their support of Children by Choice during the debate.

Reproductive Choice Australia (RCA) led the RU486 campaign. RCA garnered public support for the Private Members Bill, informed MPs, the media and the public about RU486.  In conjunction with the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance, RCA produced a briefing document RU486/Mifepristone: A factual guide to the issues in the Australian debate.  To read this report, go to http://www.arha.org.au/Resources_and_Links/RU486/ARHA-RCA_RU486REPORT.pdf

When will RU486 become available to Australian women and their doctors?

As of March 2006, no pharmaceutical company has applied to import and distribute RU486 in Australia. For women to have access to RU486, their doctor must apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration for approval to import and supply the drug to their patients only. 

Currently, a small number of medical practitioners have applied to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for approval to prescribe RU486.  It is anticipated that the TGA will assess these applications in 2006. 

The TGA will also determine when and how RU486 can be prescribed by medical practitioners. It is likely that they will set protocols on the use of RU486.  More about mifepristone 

For more information, please contact campaign@childrenbychoice.org.au