In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage; and in the early 1920s, Dr Marie Stopes was a leading advocate and practitioner who carried out groundbreaking research into contraception and was a pioneer in family planning.

She campaigned in the 1910s and 1920s for access to contraception and reproductive health services, including safe and legal abortion. Her book Married Life has been recognised as one of the 20th Century’s most socially significant publications.

The current abortion debate in Australia is reminiscent of the days when Dr Marie Stopes fought for women to be able to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive lives in the face of political moves to govern women’s health according to the personal bias of individual politicians.

The Australian Government’s decision to spend $51 million on ‘pregnancy support’ measures is not based on the experiences of those actively working within reproductive health and most importantly, belies the international experience of countries such as the Netherlands, where abortion is both legal and is one third the incidence of abortion in Australia.

If Australia is serious about reducing the rate of abortion then, as Dr Leslie Cannold says, “women, not pregnancies, need support.” In particular Australian women need access to contraception and quality sex education – information which will enable them to take control of, and make informed decisions about, their reproductive lives. Similary, women need access to unbiased and transparent counselling services and the autonomy to choose whether or not they need them.

According to Marie Stopes International Australia CEO, Ms Dvorak, “All Australian women deserve access to un-biased information, support and the highest quality medical care when considering a termination. The diminishing of women’s choice and imposition of prescriptive controls is not the answer to reducing the rate of abortion in Australia,” she said.

“To continue the work of Dr Marie Stopes, we urge all women to use this day as a time to reflect on progress made, on the great achievements in the fight for reproductive rights and the need to continue to work to ensure that women around the world, including Australia, have equal access to safe and affordable reproductive healthcare choices.”

For further information please contact:

Gail Carland
Public Relations Manager
Ph: 03 9658 7507