(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2008 10:57 amFucking what now? The review of the Abortion Supervisory Committee (conducted under pressure from Right to Life NZ) has led Justice Forrest Miller to say that the legality of many abortions in NZ is questionable.
Fucking christ. I'm giving money to Women's National Abortion Campaign right now. This is such a big deal, people. D: D: D:
Fucking christ. I'm giving money to Women's National Abortion Campaign right now. This is such a big deal, people. D: D: D:
no subject
Date: 2008-06-10 03:22 am (UTC)Unfortunately there's no way to make parties enforce party discipline, and ultimately MPs who feel strongly may evade it anyway. But I do wish the public would be a lot more sceptical about conscience votes. Sadly the media likes them, possibly because they allow a lot of frenetic speculation, and many lobby groups do as well, presumably because it basically sanctions their attempts to get to MPs directly rather than to go through the public. I always feel rather cold when I hear a lobby group calling for an issue to be made a conscience vote.
IMO the only situation in which a conscience vote could be justified is one in which some genuinely new, unique, unprecedented situation came up which party manifestos hadn't even peripherally addressed. Short of alien invasion, I can't think of one.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-10 03:47 am (UTC)And you can bet if there _was_ an alien invasion it would be party lines all the way on the grounds that it came under foreign policy. Or something.