Massive Pro-Life Banner Greets Australian Legislators for 70 Days

Jason Rushton : Mar 16, 2012
LifeSiteNews.com

"The politicians are going to have to drive past this every time they come to work for all of this year. They're going to see that banner get longer and longer and longer. Every month when they come in, there will be another 2,000 white crosses added on to it." -David Forster

(Melbourne, Australia)—A peaceful protest has begun at the entrance to the car-park of the parliament where three years ago Australia's most radical abortion laws were introduced.

On each of the 70 sitting days of Victoria's parliament this year, pro-life protesters will display a green six-foot-high banner marked with one white cross for every baby aborted since the first of January, 2012.

The unmissable banner, which due to local council regulations must be carried by volunteers at all times, will stretch along the green hedge/fence at the back of parliament house beside the car-park entrance.

When the protest began on the 7th of February the banner spanned twenty meters, containing 2,000 white crosses and requiring five volunteers. On the last sitting day of parliament this year, it will contain 17,000 white crosses and need 35 volunteers to support it across more than 170 meters.

"When you see even the 2,000 [white crosses] that we've got now, even our own pro-life people say, 'Oh, it couldn't be that many!'" said David Forster, the protest organizer. "A figure is a figure, but when you see the number, you think, 'Goodness gracious, that couldn't be happening.'"

Bernie Finn MLC, a member of the upper house of Victorian parliament, said that there has been a noticeable reaction inside parliament house to the protest. "There've been two reactions here basically," he said. "One from the pro-aborts and one from the pro-lifers: The pro-aborts are trying desperately to ignore the protest, the pro-lifers are having their priorities pricked, and being reminded that they should be doing a lot more about this issue."

The 2008 Abortion Law Reform Act legalized abortion in Victoria up to birth. Doctors may perform abortions up to 24 weeks gestation without any limits. After 24 weeks, the medical practitioner must consult one other doctor.

Controversially, the act denies healthcare professionals the right to conscientious objection and aims to compel them to be involved in abortion. Doctors may be prosecuted if they refuse to refer for an abortion, and along with nurses, are compelled to assist in the case of an emergency.

More than 60 amendments—including providing counseling for women, banning partial-birth abortion, mandatory reporting of suspected child/teenage sexual abuse, notifying the parent of a minor seeking an abortion, and providing anesthetic to the unborn child—were all rejected at the time the law was enacted.