Bernie Finn, A Victorian state Liberal MP has weighed into the global debate around abortion this week, suggesting that women should not be enabled to safely access procedures even if they are a victim of rape.
Using Facebook to express his excitement at news of the US Supreme Court’s predicted decision to prevent nationwide legal abortion, Finn described the potential overturning of Roe v Wade as “a major breakthrough to civilisation”.
“So excited the US is on the verge of a major breakthrough to civilisation. Praying it will come here soon. Killing babies is criminal,” the upper house MP wrote on Wednesday night.
He then shared a meme reading: “Civilised societies don’t kill their young.”
A constituent responded to Mr Finn’s post, telling him she was “in (two) minds over this” and that “in extreme cases ie sexual assault there should be an option”.
When a woman commented on his post saying, “I’m in 2 minds over this. I don’t support abortion, but I feel in extreme cases ie sexual assault there should be an option”, Finn issued a blanket response: “Babies should not be killed for the crime of his or her parent”.
Another woman suggested Finn’s perspective would be “quite triggering for many victims of sexual assault” suggesting the post should be reported.
Finn responded suggesting he knew rape victims who had “never been happier” after having their child and that “we all should be looking for a better way for all women”.
Victoria’s Minister for Women, Labor MP Gabrielle Williams, described Finn’s comments as “deplorable”.
“These are deplorable comments that show an appalling lack of respect for women and completely disregard the trauma experienced by victims of sexual assault,” she wrote, adding that the comments were effectively “prioritising the decisions of perpetrators over the needs of women victims of crime”.
“We support all women to make choices that are right for them — women have the right to access reproductive services safely, legally and with dignity.”
According to the ABC’s Victorian political reporter Richard Willingham, several members of the Liberal Party were equally unimpressed.
“There’s some very angry Liberal MPs,” he wrote on Twitter. “Furious about their colleague Bernie Finn’s latest comments on abortion.”
However Opposition Leader Matthew Guy merely cast the fracas aside as “Bernie’s point of view”
“Bernie has his own points of view. That’s Bernie’s point of view. I’m not interested in commenting on social policy in the United States,” he said, adding that the “Liberal Party in Victoria is focused on matters in Victoria, not social policy in the United States.”