Fickle conscience

  • Jewel Topsfield

02 October 2010Votes of conscience may seem like democracy in action, but issues can be hijacked, leading to unpredictable results, writes Jewel Topsfield in The Age

THE 2006 conscience vote on the Therapeutic Goods Amendment bill was supposed to be as dry as it sounds. We were repeatedly told the vote was not about abortion. It was a procedural issue; should the abortion drug RU486 be assessed on its medical merits by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in the same way as every other drug?

But it quickly turned into a deeply personal and fiercely contested moral debate that degenerated into soap opera. We learnt that former Democrats leader Lyn Allison…

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Photo: Andrew Dyson/ The Age

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