Peter

my report In Australia abortion is not a matter of national law but rather of state law, from state to state laws vary, but in each it is legal under the grounds of protecting the life and health of the woman, although definitions vary. In each state it lies in the consent only of the woman and not of their respective partners or the child's biological father. Here in Western Australia a minor does not require parental consent or even to notify their parents. Since the 1980's polls have shown that the majority of Australians are in support of female's abortion rights, as well as making abortions more accessible to all women.
 * __ ABORTION RIGHTS IN AUSTRALIA: __**

The major argument against abortion is the right-to-life argument .Since life begins at conception; abortion is akin to murder since you are terminating the said child's life, and that this is in direct defiance of the widely accepted idea of the sanctity of human life. Adoption is also presented as a viable alternative to abortion, accomplishing the same result, and with Australia's rising adoption demands there is no such thing as a unwanted child. Those who choose abortions are often minors or young women without proper life experience to understand the consequences of what they are doing. There are also medical risks involved in having a abortion! The risk of ectopic pregnancies doubles, a ectopic pregnancy is were the embryo develops outside the uterus, usually causing the embryo to die. In some rare cases this can cause the fallopian tube to rupture, causing internal bleeding and resulting in a severe medical emergency that requires immediate surgery and blood transfusion. There is also a increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease associated with abortions.

The strongest pro abortion argument is a woman’s right to have control of her body, this is critical to women’s civil rights. If we are to take away her reproductive choice then we are creating grounds for further fallacies of human rights. If the government is able to force a women into keeping a unwanted child, then we create grounds for women to be forced into sterilizations or even forced contraception. It can also be argued that contraception is not 100% reliable and regardless of how responsible a woman is only through abstinence can a women be guaranteed to not fall pregnant. Rape victims also have a strong argument, especially considering the stress and pain involved in pregnancy, we are magnifying the psychological and physical harm to the victim by forcing them into a unwanted pregnancy.

A big question for Australians is wether or not abortions should be goverment funded or atleast partly goverment funded, seeing as the majority of australia tax payers are against this, it is morally wrong to use tax money to fund abortions. At the same time if one is in financial difficulty and one cannot afford a abortion how is it plausable that they could financially support the child?

The purpose of this survey, is to be unbiased in collecting data from a group of 20 people that represents the Australian public's opinion, accurately. In total their are 10 questions all of relevance to the topic, that I will analyze individually and then as a whole, in order to come to a conclusion of the general publics views on abortion.

The questions >

1.Of what age group are you?

15-21 4/20 21-31 5/20 31-41 3/20 41+ 8/20

Mean: 29.3 Mode: 41+ Median: 21-31 Standard Deviation: 10.86 In handing out this survey I tried to estimate the average age of the said person, and distribute it evenly respectively. As opposed to my intervention creating a bias in the survey I believe it creates more accuracy in representing society as a whole.

2.Are you of male or female gender? 1. Male 9/20 2. Female 11/20 Mode: Female Median: Female Standard Deviation (for questions without a numbered response I assigned the answers a number from 1-4 in their corresponding order): .51 Once again, handing out this survey I tried to evenly distribute it, in this case evenly distribution between males and females was of importance to the integrity of the survey. However I decided to leave the last 2 hands out to chance, both of which went females.

3.Do you currently hold any religious beliefs that affect your views on the matter of abortion? 1. Yes 2/20 2. No 18/20

Mode: No Median: No Standard Deviation: .31 This question is vital to the integrity of the survey. Many religions preach views that are strongly against abortion, usually in the belief that life begins at the fertilization of the egg and to take this life is a sin, or morally unacceptable. To narrow it down I have phrased the question so that it does not simply ask if a person holds religious views, but if they believe these religious beliefs have affected there views on abortions. Although this leaves it up to the individual to decide whether or not their views are affected by their beliefs, I believe this question to be more accurate than simply asking "Are you currently of any religious faith?" Out of those surveyed only 2 believed their religious views affected their answers to this question. This seems to support the fact that Australia is a country of only minor religious belief.

4.Do you believe abortion at any stage in pregnancy involves the taking of a human life? 1.Yes 2/20 2.No 15/20 3.Unsure 3/20

Mode: No Median: No Standard Deviation: .47 What can be seen from these results is that a large majority of Australians do not believe that abortion is taking a human life no matter what stage of pregnancy the woman is in. However the 3 unsure responses could represent views that at a certain point in pregnancy a unborn child is in fact a child deserving of human rights. Coincidently on further review the 2 yes responses were in fact given by the subjects that gave the yes response in the previous question, further supporting the theory that religion holds a large sway in a persons belief towards abortion.

5.Do you support abortion for any reason whatsoever? 1. Yes 13/20 2. No 5/20 3. Unsure 2/20

Mode: Yes Median: Yes Standard Deviation: .59

A overwhelming response of yes' here suggests that a large percentage of Australians believe that no matter the reason a women should have control over their body.

6. Do you support abortion for non-medical purposes that is, for financial or personal reasons? 1. Yes 17/20 2. No 2/20 3. Unsure 1/20

Mean: Mode: Yes Median: Yes Standard Deviation: .31

Once again on further inspection it is found that those that responded yes, as to whether or not religion has affected their views are the only one's who have responded no to this question. Further supporting the religious bias on views toward abortion. A large majority have the belief that no matter the reason a woman has right to abortion.

7.Do you believe that parental consent should normally be required for girls under 16 having an abortion? 1. Yes 15/20 2. No 0/20 3. Unsure 5/20

Mode: Yes Median: Yes Standard Deviation: .84

This data supports the opinion that people believe women under 16 are in fact not fully aware of the repercussions of having a abortion, and that parental advice should be sought before having a abortion. The unsure responses could suggest that certain people are indecisive and that parental advice may only be situation ally important.

8."Partial-birth abortion" is a late-term method of abortion, required after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It involves inducing early labor and aborting the child before full delivery has been completed. Do you believe this method of abortion should be banned? 1. Yes 2/20 2. No 18/20 3. Unsure 0/20

Mode: no Median: no Standard Deviation: .31

Once again the only people to respond with yes are those who hold religious bias'. This leads me to believe that the majority of Australians collectively believe a unborn child is actually a living child with human rights.

9. Do you believe there should be a waiting time of several days between making a appointment for abortion and the actual abortion as long as it does not effect the method required to make that abortion? 1. Yes 19/20 2. No 1/20 3. Unsure 0/20

Mode: Yes Median: Yes Standard Deviation: 0

These responses support the idea that a women may change her mind in determining the future of her unborn child over the course of a few days, or may just be reprehensive of the belief that these decisions require proper thought. The reason I included the second part of the question was for the reason that, some may view that the method required in the latter stages of pregnancy to be in fact morally unacceptable.

10.Do you support the need for government funded or subsidized abortions? 1. Yes 6/20 2. No 12/20 3. Unsure 2/20

Mode: No Median: No Standard Deviation: .56

The responses show that a large majority of people believe that a women should pay for the entirety of her abortion. On further inspection all of the "no" responses were given by people of female gender, suggesting a bias by women in their beliefs as to whether or not they should pay for their abortions. However this may also by swayed by the belief that if a women falls pregnant as side effect of rape, they should not be responsible for the financial costs of abortion.

Upon conclusion of the results this survey has yielded, I believe Australians have strong beliefs on abortions and that the general belief is that in fact it is a civil right of women to have complete control over their body’s and that under no circumstances should this be revoked, but that in almost all cases a women should be held to pay for the costs of the abortion. The results also strongly support the opinion that religion creates a bias in people's views over abortion as the pattern can be seen throughout the survey and each time upon inspection their answers were linked.

__ Impacts of Immigration into Australia  __ Illegal immigration is a growing problem, especially in countries like Australia. Immigration has been a around in Australia alone for an estimated 50,000 years when the ancestors of Australian Aborigines arrived on the continent from outside islands. More recently, is the growing issue surrounding the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers apprehended just outside of Indonesia that had set path for Australian shores but have ended up in an Australian funded immigration centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan. There are many social and economic issues associated with illegal immigration although they are all to do with the effects of population growth. Firstly is the effect a rise in the population has on Australia’s trade balance. More people in Australia means higher number of imports in relation to exports, and higher domestic consumption furthering Australia into a current account deficit. The main issue associated with a current account deficit is growing debt, which, in turn has to be paid back by later generations. A growing population also has a negative effect on the environment. These effects of a growing population on the environment include; increased greenhouse emissions, overuse of agricultural soils, marine fisheries and domestic supplies of oil and gas, and a decline in urban air quality, river quality and biodiversity. Given this and the nature of Australia’s climate, sustaining an already rising population without immigration into Australia is a developing issue only worsened by the allowance of illegal immigration into Australia. Lastly are the many social issues associated with illegal immigration. These include the overburdened infrastructure, an increase in the unemployment rate and a potential increase in urban housing prices. Population analyst Rory Robertson states that the government policies that ‘turn a blind eye’ to immigration into Australia, amongst other things, have had a greater impact on housing affordability than any other notable source. There are a wide range of views in the Australian community on the effects and suggested policies regarding immigration into Australia, however the general opinion suggests it should be more strictly policed. With three of the many issues put forward above in mind and Australia’s views on illegal immigration it is clear that the Asylum seekers on the Oceanic Viking should be shown a no tolerance attitude.
 * __my views__**