Cardinal Pell enters Australian debate against RU-486

George Cardinal Pell

Function: Archbishop of Sydney, Australia

Title: Cardinal Priest of St. Mary Dominic Mazzarello

Birthdate: Jun 08, 1941	Country: Australia

Elevated: Oct 21, 2003	More information: www.catholic-hierarchy.org

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Cardinal Pell enters Australian debate against RU-486
Feb 22, 2006
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia has entered a lively national debate on the drive to approve the use of RU-486.

Sydney, Feb. 15 2006 (CWNews.com) - As parliamentary debate begins on a bid to allow the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to authorize distribution of the abortion drug, Cardinal Pell released a statement saying that politicians "who introducing this pill are not pro-life."

Health minister Tony Abbott has resisted pressure to approve the drug, and rejects the argument that RU-486 should be classified with ordinary pharmaceutical products regulated by the TGA. Abbott, who has called for measures to cut the abortion rate in Australia, argues that RU-486 involves significant health risks, and would likely increase the number of abortions.

Cardinal Pell backed Abbott's argument, scolding abortion advocates for their "sectarian anti-Catholic attacks on the minister of health." The public vilification of Abbott, he said, shows "a poverty of argumentation and a fear the tide is turning."

In fact, the cardinal says, most Australians share Abbott's goal of cutting the number of abortions. Moreover, he adds, "The health risks to women of RU486 cannot be airbrushed out of existence."

Cardinal Pell concludes that the decision on RU-486 should be made by the Australian people and their elected representatives, not by the TGA-- which, he notes, is "an unelected board partly funded by the pharmaceutical industry."

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