Gina Rushton

The Monthly • 1st August 2020

Doula by choice

Late on a Wednesday night in April before Queensland’s coronavirus restrictions had eased, Brisbane grandmother Jo Bolger answered her phone and inadvertently became Australia’s first practising abortion doula. The next morning, she packed her hand...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

Let's Talk About What An Abortion For "Social" Reasons Can Actually Mean

Australian Christian Lobby Queensland director Wendy Francis could not clearly define what an abortion for "social reasons" actually was. "It's a very good question," Francis told BuzzFeed News. "Social reasons does not preclude any reason is my...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

This Woman Was Sexually Assaulted And Then Harassed By Picketers When She Had An Abortion

Brisbane woman Kate made an appointment for an abortion at Options Clinic in the city's north in November 2015. The pregnancy was the result of a sexual assault two months earlier, and the mother-of-two said it was a difficult decision to end the...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

This Liberal Politician Is Letting His Mum Send Out Anti-Abortion Propaganda From His Office

Federal member for Petrie Luke Howarth's mother Denise used his electorate officer's computer and email address to send a flyer to a constituent. Denise Howarth writes that she is planning on letterboxing certain electorates with her flyers, which she...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

We Spoke To Young Women About Why They Decided To Join The Pro-Life Movement

Last month, at the largest anti-abortion march the state has seen, Australian Christian Lobby Queensland director Wendy Francis and other anti-abortion organisations praised a young pro-life generation of women "rising up" to fight against abortion...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

This Woman Had A Backyard Abortion In The 1960s. Now Her Daughter Is Fighting For Decriminalisation In Parliament

"My mum is allowing me to share this story for the first time today ... in the hope that no woman will ever experience what she did, and that we change this legislation," the Labor MP told Queensland's parliament on Tuesday night, during a debate on a...

Buzzfeed • 2nd February 2019

We Spent The Day At A Pro-Life Service For Women With "Problem Pregnancies"

Were it not for an "Unplanned Pregnancy Help Line" sign and phone number emblazoned across the front, Priceless House might pass as a Brisbane cafe.

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

We Need To Talk About This New Argument For Keeping Abortion A Crime

As Queensland inches towards removing abortion from its criminal code, federal anti-abortion politicians have weighed into the debate. Senator Cory Bernardi last week took to the floor of the Senate to talk about sex selective abortion, ahead of...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

Let Me Count The Ways I Tried To Talk To George Christensen About Abortion

Christensen wrote to treasurer Scott Morrison to ask that $9.5 million allocated to an international family planning organisation be redirected to pregnancy counselling services for young Australian mothers. At an anti-abortion rally in Queensland he...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

This Woman Was Told Abortion Would Be "Dangerous" By A Pregnancy Counselling Service

The organisation's "About Us" section says the service redirects callers to "life affirming pregnancy support centres". Samantha believes it isn't clear to those who land on the page via a search and dial the number that the counsellors are anti-abortion.

Buzzfeed • 2nd February 2019

These Women Funded Their Abortions With Facebook Donations

To get an abortion in the Sunshine State you will need hundreds of dollars at short notice, because they are mostly provided by private clinics – Queensland Health estimates only 1% of abortions are performed in public hospitals. There is a Medicare...

Buzzfeed • 4th February 2019

We Spoke To The Female Politician Who Endured Months Of Abuse So Abortion Could Be Decriminalised

A few weeks before abortion was decriminalised in Queensland, Jackie Trad sat her electorate officers down and discussed whether she needed to hire security to protect them from protestors. "I had prayer groups turning up to my electorate office,...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

This Footage Shows A Woman Begging Religious Picketers To Leave Her Alone As She Enters An Abortion Clinic

"God hates the hands that shed his blood," the protester tells the woman. "Just shut up that is so traumatic," the patient responds. "That is so fucking traumatic."

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

This Mother Is Furious Her 4-Year-Old Daughter Was Exposed To Graphic Anti-Abortion Propaganda

"One of my four-year-old's jobs is to check and bring the mail in, and she picked up a letter and a leaflet and brought it over to me and I saw it was this cartoon of a baby being dismembered," Thistleton, 37, told BuzzFeed News. "It is not something...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

We Need To Talk About The Abortion Myth Male Politicians Keep Perpetuating

Staunch anti-abortion federal senator Barry O'Sullivan this week made a speech in which he perpetuated what women's health providers say is the "biggest myth" about abortion in Australia. The Toowoomba LNP senator moved a motion to condemn Queensland...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

This Woman Has Warned Her Colleagues That If They Vote For Abortion To Remain A Crime They're Not True Liberals

The retired Liberal National Party (LNP) senator said it was a core Liberal value to "support the autonomy of the individual to the greatest extent possible" and all Queensland MPs should vote for the legislation introduced by the Labor government to...

Buzzfeed • 2nd February 2019

Australian Women Are Forgoing Groceries To Pay For Their Abortions

A third of women experienced financial difficulties – and more than two-thirds relied on financial assistance – to pay for a termination, according to a study of more than 2000 women published today. The study was led by La Trobe University's Judith...

Buzzfeed • 2nd February 2019

These Surgery Raids Show The Risks Of Abortion Remaining In The Criminal Code

Queensland surgeon Dr David Grundmann went to work on the morning of May 20, 1985, at the Townsville clinic at which he was the medical director. By midday he was holed up in a police station. "It came completely out of the blue when the police came...

Buzzfeed • 3rd February 2019

Thousands Of Queenslanders Marched For Abortion To Remain A Crime

The Australian Christian Lobby's Queensland director Wendy Francis said it was biggest anti-abortion rally the state had ever seen. "This is a personal crusade for [deputy premier Jackie Trad] and she is not in tune with what Queenslanders want,"...

Buzzfeed • 2nd February 2019

This Catholic Archbishop Has Defended Comparing Legalised Abortion To Nazi Germany

Brisbane archbishop Mark Coleridge has released a video in which he defends comparing the decriminalisation of abortion in Queensland to the eugenics program of Nazi Germany. On Sunday, the Courier Mail published an article in which Coleridge said he...