Social Media Influence On Abortion

Introduction:

Independent MP, Roby Pyne, is leading a push to remove criminal sanctions for abortion in Queensland; subsequently, reigniting the eternal abortion debate. Accordingly, the pro-choice campaign is more alive than ever before and is expounding at all social platforms the need to legalise abortion. Contrastingly, the Church and other anti-abortion movements have significantly excoriated these “heinous” ideals. Will this be enough, however, to avoid the divorce of Church and State? The current abortion law was amended in 1986 and reworded in 2009; the law only prohibits medical abortion to preserve a woman’s mental or physical health; ultimately, abortion is illegal unless dire circumstances warrant it (Children by Choice Association,

Primarily, social media was used to gauge the public opinion on current abortion laws, specifically from Coleridge’s perspective and evaluate how the Church views the State. Secondly, social media (Facebook) will help to examine the public’s opinion on current abortion laws and people’s beliefs on how the law should be reformed. Furthermore, politically orientated news articles on the issue will be observed to account for individual’s opinions and reasoning on their arguments. Furthermore, politically orientated articles contributed to the formation of the hypothesis as it outlined the dominant voice of Queensland society and the cultural shift in people’s ideas. Lastly, YouTube Documentaries were watched to divulge abortion from a medical perspective, Dr. Wicklund’s (RANZCOG) insight into the detrimental effect of the Church on abortion laws, outlined the Church’s impact on the public and the medical perspective. Ultimately, these sources allowed the medical perspective, social context and current affairs associated with abortion to be established (subject of the second argument). Finally, a nine-question survey was created and sent out to the public via social media and email. Correspondingly, questions were crafted to gauge the opinions and beliefs from a diverse range of people. Most importantly,

Queensland legislature's foundations can be found in the legal and socio-political traditions of Old English common-law, constructed based on the Ten Commandments and ‘Divine Law’ (Zimmermann, 2015). Thus, the colonial courts enacted laws that embodied Christian principles and complemented the views of (mainly) Catholicism. Accordingly, from 1861 to 1986 Queensland law enforced, the Offences Against the Person Act; completely criminalising abortion in all circumstances (Breen, 2006). Appropriately, the Church considers abortion to be tantamount to murder, as the Didache states, "Thou shalt do no murder…thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide.” Additionally, Catechism 227 enforces, “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.” Other Christian denominations including the Greek Orthodox Church also condemn abortion, Rev. Dr. Stanley S. Harakas (2008) states, “All procedures purporting to abort the embryo or foetus, whether by surgical or chemical means are condemned. The Orthodox Church brands abortion as murder; that is, as a premeditated termination of the life of a human being.” Evidently, politicians were in favour of a “modest conception” of abortion law, from an explicitly Christian