Labor MPs have questioned Julia Gillard’s bid to capture female votes by raising the issue of abortion.
Behind closed doors on Tuesday, the Prime Minister told a Women For Gillard gathering that a Tony Abbott-led coalition government would marginalise women and make abortion a “political play thing”.
Labor backbencher Stephen Jones on Wednesday told the ABC he was not convinced of “the wisdom of kicking this (abortion) into a political debate”.
Colleague Ed Husic also expressed his discomfort with the abortion issue re-entering the political sphere.
“I think there are other issues … (such as) health care or superannuation that legitimately have an impact on women that should be definitely discussed within the political arena,” he said.
The Coalition’s top woman, deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, insisted the Coalition had no plans to change abortion laws if it won the September 14 election.
“I find it offensive she would raise this to scare women into voting against the coalition,” she said.
Abbott, as a committed Catholic, believed abortion should be “safe, legal and rare”, Bishop said.
“That’s a view I believe is held by a number of people throughout Australia including Julia Gillard’s own side of politics.”
Stay informed, daily
Gillard’s gender-based campaign stretched to an attack on men wearing blue ties, who she said would hold the nation’s reins under a Coalition government.
Bishop and Sophie Mirabella are the only women in the shadow cabinet and there are only six women in the Opposition’s shadow ministry.
“We’ve moved on from having specific numbers as if that’s an indication of competence,” Bishop said.
“We select women on merit, Labor chooses women because of their gender.”
