A conservative Liberal politician from South Australia, Senator Cory Bernardi, is reported to have labelled the pro-choice movement as pro-death and labels abortion a death industry in his new book The Conservative Revolution.
Senator Bernardi has written that women use abortion “as an abhorrent form of birth control.”
In addition to abortions, his new book includes the green movement, Islam, any sort of non-traditional family structure, gay and lesbian people, surrogacy, and groups that run breakfast clubs in schools (lol, wut?) as part of a what he refers to as a “morbid new world” being created by the left.
The outrage is strong about his new comments and in particular his thinking about women and the choices they make about their bodies and their health.
But, here’s the thing about Cory Bernardi and others of his way of thinking – to have the values they hold, they must not have a lot of faith in humanity.
Cory Bernardi seems to think that because women have access to abortions that they’ll be off to have them all the time.
Who thinks like that?
Imagine waking up and being so hopelessly out of touch with reality that you would think a woman wouldn’t carefully weigh her decision to terminate a pregnancy or not, that a woman wouldn’t be completely across the consequences of her decisions?
This is the same Cory Bernardi who in 2010 suggested we should ban the burqa in case bandits use it when they rob banks.
The same Cory Bernardi who, in the past, claimed that multiculturalism has failed (despite his Italian heritage), has linked homosexuality to bestiality and polygamy, and thinks that the green movement threatens Christianity.
These comments reveal the true values of extreme conservatives and their approach to the community.
Imagine living in the world thinking you were constantly under attack, and that just the existence of certain other people threatened your very way of life. Imagine constantly battening down your figurative hatches, eyeing everyone around you with deep suspicion.
Why go through life expecting evil at every turn? That’s no way to live.
I can’t help but wonder if Cory Bernardi is okay? He must be deeply unhappy.
Instead of outrage, I wonder if we shouldn’t just feel pity for Senator Bernardi.
Alys Gagnon is a woman, wife, mother, social justice activist and a political junkie. She can be found tweeting “insights” from her clichéd suburban existence here. Language warning.
How do you feel about Senator Bernardi’s beliefs?
Top Comments
What I would like to know is what he thinks is wrong with the fabulous groups that are running the breakfast clubs. A fabulous idea that keeps young kids focussed in the classroom and creating a routine of having the most important meal of the day. He obviously thinks they are a religious brain washing group!
If this wasn't so serious, it would be laughable. Why is it the woman's fault. Why is it that men can go out and have unprotected sex and not have to suffer the consequences, public embarrassment, and having to make an awful decision, yet it seems to be men that are the judge, jury and executioner. There are many, many reasons women need the right to have an abortion. It isn't as simple as the "stupid mistakes" of women. Of course abortion shouldn't be used as birth control, of course unwanted pregnancies shouldn't happen. The fact is that they do happen and it isn't always the woman's fault that she is in a position where she would need one. I know one thing for sure, that any woman left with the decision to have an abortion is not taking it lightly or willy nilly. It's easy for Cory Bernardi to stare down his nose at the "these women" because he will never have to worry about dealing with being in that position. I hope his daughter is never raped, if he even has one.