Hope for families campaigners

Rainbow family campaigners are hopeful after the Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) bill passed through its second reading in the Victorian 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 cautiously optimistic.

It’s a very encouraging start, interim result for what is obviously a very difficult situation for many parliamentarians, she told Sydney Star Observer.

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 profound

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

Voted on conscience, all Labor MPs, except Nazih Elasmar and Adem Somyurek, voted for the bill, while Liberal Bruce Atkinson was the only Coalition MP to support the legislation.

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.

It’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’s access to their biology.
Allowing birth certificates to record two men as the child’s only parents is a problem for me, she told parliament.

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, in most cases much more than any heterosexual couple.

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