Consider women

LETTER writers Peter Hartin and Peter Phillips seem medically misinformed and, like Federal Health Minister Tony Abbot, misrepresent the real purpose of the RU486 debate.
Their comments are pure anti abortion cant with no relevance to the Senate Committee Terms of Reference set out for the current inquiry into whether the Health Minister should rule on making RU486 available on prescription in Australia.
Already in use overseas, RU486 has several other valuable medical applications besides abortion.
I hope that women, for whom the result of this inquiry is an important issue, will have the good sense to ignore Mr Hartin’s and Mr Phillips’ exaggerated, misleading and scare mongering nonsense.
RU486, like all other prescribed medications, has side effects and it has allegedly been implicated in the deaths of 11 women worldwide. However, RU486 is far less risky than pregnancy, which still results in thousands of maternal deaths annually.
RU486 would provide Australian women needing abortions with an overseas proven, noninvasive alternative to surgical intervention. Its early effectiveness would reduce stress for rape victims and suit women living long distances from abortion clinics.
It’s time that blinkered “family men” accepted that the rights to a decent life for women and their existing children come well ahead of moralising over those of a nonviable first trimester foetus.
Many women are driven to abortion because they have been impregnated by selfish, selfindulgent, inconsiderate and bullying sexual partners who are uncooperative with contraception, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and family support.
The crusading Peters should sort out their fellow blokes before poking their noses into women’s business.
Janet Cox,
Convenor LOCAL (Ladies of the City Action League).