Church leader praises abortion debate

THE head of the Anglican church in Australia, Peter Carnley, says he will support moves to make it harder to terminate a pregnancy.

He also backed political involvement in the debate.

Dr Carnley, the Primate of the Anglican church, said abortion was clearly a scientific question because from the moment of conception the fetus was an independent human.

He said all political leaders should be involved in the abortion debate.

“I think it (the abortion debate) is going to continually resurface until it's resolved because I think it's an unresolved problem,” he told ABC radio.

“And I think people generally are really concerned and it simply will keep coming back.

“This is really a scientific question before it's a religious or moral question.

“The scientific question is; when are we dealing with a human life?

“And I think it's very clear that for scientific reasons, it's very clear that from the moment of conception ... we're dealing with an independent human individual and every human individual has a right to life and protection.”

Backing political involvement in the debate, Dr Carnley said: “I don't think it's just a sort of theoretical debate amongst religious people, I think it really affects those involved in politics,” he said.

Dr Carnley said he would support changes to the law to make abortions harder to get but he also supported educational programs.

“I think these days, when people can control their fertility, there's really no need for abortion, there should be no need for abortion,” he said.

“It is a right to choose what you do with your body, but it's not a right to choose what you're going to do with somebody else's body.

”And conceived human individuals are other people.”