Hope still for family campaigners

Rainbow family campaigners are hopeful after the Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) bill passed through its second reading in the upper house relatively unscathed last week.

Voted through 20 to 18, the bill has been sent to a Legislation Committee and will return to the council chamber in early December after concern over the provision of police checks for those seeking fertility treatment.

If passed, the legislation will grant single women and lesbians access to IVF, and give gay partners and the parents of surrogate children greater parenting rights.

Although the numbers are encouraging, Rainbow Families Council spokeswoman Felicity Marlowe said she remains -œcautiously optimistic.

-œIt’s a very encouraging start, an interim result for what is obviously a very difficult situation for many parliamentarians, she told Southern Star.

Marlowe and around 25 rainbow families and supporters gathered in the public gallery to hear the debates in parliament.

Their presence paid off, with Labor MP Robert Smith describing the impact of his meeting with the group of lesbian mothers and families as -œprofound

-œTo those women who took the opportunity to come here, I have to say you have at least one convert, he said.

On a conscience vote, all Labor MPs, except Nazih Elasmar and Adem Somyurek, voted for the bill, while Liberal Bruce Atkinson was the only Coalition MP to support it.

Marlowe said Atkinson’s support was crucial, with the vote so close. She rejected claims made by many MPs that the legislation is going through in haste.

-œIt’s been a five year consultation and inquiry, so for us, to say that it’s been rushed is something we think is not true.

In opposing the legislation, Liberal MP Inga Peulich said it denied a child access to their biology.

-œAllowing birth certificates to record two men as the child’s only parents is a problem for me, she told parliament.

-œCouples who procure a child through a surrogacy arrangement, and in doing so depriving a child not only of his or her birth mother but also having no mother at all, is something I cannot accept.

Voting in favour, Atkinson said he believed gay and lesbian people looking to have children put a great deal of consideration and thought into it, -œin most cases much more than any heterosexual couple.

-œI do not believe the relationships that are under scrutiny as part of this legislation are such that they infringe upon the rights of other people. They are relationships that are entered into by people in a constructive, loving, aspiring and hopeful manner.

-œThey are relationships that often provide the very foundations I would expect are crucial to the nurturing of children, so from that point of view I do not have a concern with the principles of this legislation.

The Legislation Committee forum was scheduled yesterday, and the Committee must report back to parliament by December 2.