Australian Senators and Logic
The Australian Christian Lobby has a summary of various senators comments in discussion of the RU486 Bill. What troubles me is the lack of rational debate over the topic. From the summary we see various senators saying things like

Sen ALLISON (Vic)
…of course it would be good to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies – there is no doubt about that..but there is no cause to panic. It has nothing to do with ethics…it is okay for people to hold particular ethical or religious views that lead them to oppose abortion but it is not okay for them to impose their position on others who do not…

Unfortunately, Senator Allison is imposting her own ethical views on others when she tells them it is not okay (I.E WRONG) for others to impose their ethical views on those who have a different ethical view. Never mind that she claims the issue has 'nothing to do with ethics', a clear absurdity.

Sen MOORE (Qld)
…I commend the people who made the effort to be part of the process, to contact the senators and to be involved, but I beg that you actually fully understand what we are debating and not get confused with some other debate… (she is referring to the abortion issue)

Of course, when Senators like Senator Allison, stood up and talked about how they had an abortion, no one told her it was irrelevant to the discussion. Abortion is part of the issue, because it is a controversial issue whose morality is in question. Notice also how when many people, for whatever reasons, opposed this bill and wrote to their elected representatives, this charming senator tells them they are confused and do not 'fully understand' the issue.

Sen NETTLE (NSW)
…unfortunately, this debate we are having now is not around that issue [abortion]…the Greens are proudly a pro-choice party…

Whilst the bill itself is not about the legality of abortion, the abortion issue is central to the debate. It is only smug self-service because abortion is (sort-of) legal that permeates comments about how abortion is not part of the issue.

Sen Faulkner (NSW)
…this is not a bill to change the laws concerning abortion; those are state matters… there are those who have treated this bill as an opportunity to raise a question most Australians consider settled [abortion]…

I don't remember a vote on the abortion issue? The issue was decided by unelected judges, not the people. How does the senator know most Australians consider the matter settled? Especially since 87% of Australians support finding ways to reduce the number of abortions.

My personal favorite however is

Sen MARSHALL (Vic)
…at the end of the day, abortion is a subject for discussion between a woman and her doctor and a decision for the woman…Australians of all religions and cultural backgrounds have good reason to oppose the influence of faith rather than logic-based arguments in policy decisions…Australians must hold on to our principles that religion has no place in politics…

I wonder if senator Marshall has faith in 'logic-based' arguments. The idea that religion has no place in politics is absurd as when you boil down any moral issue you have to come to some foundation. That foundation cannot be seperated from religious (or anti-religious) belief. The senator deludes himself into thinking his position is logic-based, whereas his opponents are faith-based.

On what grounds can anyone appeal to, to justify the idea that free choice to kill another human being is okay? Or for that matter, any moral principle? Ultimately, without 'religious-beliefs', after numerous appeals to other, supposedly higher, moral principles, all that is left is empty air to ground your moral beliefs. Pretending that is rational is rather pathetic.

Check out the rest of our senators comments, and remember that these are the people who are leading our nation.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Thursday, February 16, 2006