A response to Tasmania's Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) bill

Dear Hon. Michelle O'Byrne and the Department of Health and Human Services,

Please reconsider your support for the Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) bill. As you are aware, current Tasmanian laws already allow for the termination of pregnancy where it two doctors consider that it would be more difficult for a woman to continue with the pregnancy than to terminate it. Making abortion in the first 24 weeks accessible without any health reason would not promote the health of women or their unborn children.

Please consider the following points:

* This bill fails to promote true choice for women. Those who will not be involved in referring for abortion are penalised, but there are no similar penalties for counselors who fail to fully inform women of their options other than abortion. To truly be about choice, this bill would need to also stipulate penalties for such counselors or clinic workers as well as for any family member or partner involved in pressuring a woman to have an abortion.

* This bill fails to ensure women have true freedom of choice through failing to stipulate the information they must be offered for informed consent to be in effect. For example, will they be informed of the development of their unborn child and all their other options? This bill reduces current protections for women through removing the requirement that they be counseled about their options.

* Later abortions carry with them a greater risk of abortion related grief and trauma, and therefore it is not in the interests of women to treat them like any other medical procedure. Experience in Victoria shows that later abortions increase when physical health requirements for them are removed.

* The facts about the development of the unborn child leave us in no doubt that a death occurs in every abortion, leaving the remaining family members bereaved. Therefore, the law should provide some protection for these vulnerable members of the human family.

* This bill hinders the freedom of choice of health professionals and counselors to refuse to have any involvement in providing abortion access where it is not necessary to save the life of the woman.

* This bill hinders freedom of speech through hindering peaceful protests such as those I have been involved in with my children outside the Victoria St clinic in 2011. I went to these events out of sincere love for those involved in a practice I consider to be damaging. I should have the freedom to continue to do so.

Kind regards,

Sherrin Drew

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Introducing William (Bill) Huon Drew

We are thanking God for many answered prayers in the birth of our son William Huon Drew on February 19th at 6pm. The home birth we planned was quick and uncomplicated. Dave and our midwives were a great help, as was the warm birth pool, and Sherrin is recovering more easily than in the past births. Bill weighed 4.15kg and is 55cm long. This picture is of William on his first outing with the family at ten days old. We have been grateful for easier feeding this time as well.

The name we have chosen expresses God's provision to us in people, places and things. We have named him William after his paternal grandfather and maternal great grandfather. Dave's father William turns 70 this year so the timing seems perfect! Sherrin's late grandfather was also named William but was always called Bill. So we have chosen that as his shortened name. We met in the Huon Valley, and Sherrin spent the first six years of her life there. One of Dave's research projects involves ancient Huon pine, and it was also one of Grandad Bill's favourite woods for his many beautiful woodwork projects.

The picture above is of the other children meeting their brother for the first time. Elnathan (3 1/2) and Mercy (2) have been thrilled with their new brother, another answered prayer! They are full of questions about him. Mercy lavishes him with affection and copies his hand movements! They both love to ask questions about him and give kisses.

Here are a couple more pictures. It is a lovely time of year to have a baby and the garden is flourishing! We gave the children special gifts to help them celebrate bring a big brother and sister, including a family of little dolls with a baby and baby furniture.

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Mercy's Second Birthday

Here is our little birthday girl! We had a joyful party with family members including photos amongst the flowers, a butterfly cake, present opening, prayers for birthday girl, and writing in the birthday book.

It has been a lovely opportunity to reflect on what God has done for us in the past two years of Mercy's life and to keep trusting Him as we leave her baby days behind. Amongst other things, this year we are thankful that Mercy has . . .

• Developed great language skills, talking in whole sentences, praying, telling stories and pretending with toys.
• Loved to sing, and surprised us with her ability to pick up songs quickly, including "Jesus Loves Me" and "Twinkle Twinkle". 
• Delighted in having a brother to chase and wrestle and join in play.
• Got all but six of her teeth meaning that surely the end of all the teething pain is in sight?!
• Been very affectionate and generous with her hugs and kisses.
• Learned polite phrases and to greet people.
• Learned her colours and enjoyed practicing counting.

We have much to look forward to in Mercy's life as we remember that God's mercy is from generation to generation.

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iSonto #46

This week we are thankful for the fun beach outing we took today.

 We have also planted our first tomatoes.

Mercy and Nate have been chasing each other and wrestling each other with lots of laughter. 

We have new babies at church and have been able to give a few meals. 

Elnathan was happy when I said yes to making muffins. They both wanted to wear their aprons and seemed to think the main point of the event was to eat batter from the spoons. Nate has also been busy with cubbies made of blankets. What a delight it was to be invited into the cubby to be greeted with huge smiles from two tiny people, plus kisses of welcome from a small girl.

 Natey's memory verse was "Pleasant words are like the honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and strength to the bones" Proverbs 16:24. Speech is at the top of our list of challenges right now!

Mercy was cute with the new hairstyle pictured at the top of this post. She was also saying "I want" a lot, and pretending a lot with teddy in her rest time or early in the morning. "That's the way teddy" "Don't worry teddy" and even lullabies to teddy and dolly.

From garden to tummies . . . we have been harvesting some tiny garlic bulbs as our stock of old garlic ran out and we have more than enough in the garden!

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Nancy Pearcy's "Total Truth".

One funny moment was Nate imitating me during prayer time and saying "mmm, mmm, mmm" way too much! Now we need to teach that it is about agreement with specific things in someone else's prayer, not just a regular "mmm" for good measure!

This will be my last iSonto for a while. I am not sure when/if I will resume. I will continue to post irregularly at birthdays or if I have something special to share. Thanks for your interest!

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iSonto #45

Over the past few weeks we are thankful for the . . .

* School fair we went to, with a boy big enough to go on rides! It was fun to find some cheap second hand children's books as well.

* Lots of beauty in the garden as Spring arrives, and a three year old with an interest in hearing all about the new season.

 * A chance to start the new baby's quilt . . . I was wondering if it would never happen, time being more taken up with tiny people than ever before!

Elnathan was happy drawing with pavement chalks.

Mercy was eager to try on Mum's hat.

 From garden to tummies . . .

This shiny pile of bright green silverbeet turned into pies.

A book we enjoyed together was "On the Banks of Plum Creek" by Laura Ingalls Wilder which Dave and I have just begun.

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from Sally Clarkson's "Seasons of a Mother's Heart".

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iSonto #44

This week we are thankful for the cousins all gathered together for a story.

Also  . . .

* The beauty of magnolia flowers, blossoms and bulbs in the garden
* Explaining spring to Nate
* Mercy's cuddles and kisses
* Nate saying "I love you" and "I am so happy to have a Daddy and a Mummy" and "We are very happy to have a baby. Our baby is named Mercy Joy. Our baby is a happy baby"!
* Hospitality to large groups is a breeze with a dishwasher!

Elnathan was enthralled with cousin Esther's colouring book and pens.

Mercy was happy to join Dad at the piano. It has been great to see the way Dave is launching into learning the piano.

A verse we studied together was "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path", which we also sing. 

From garden to tummies . . .

Freshly picked and steamed cauliflower with cheese sauce was a delicious treat this evening.  Cauliflower is a source of vitamins C, B and K as well as minerals magnesium and potassium.

 A book we enjoyed together was Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from the Girltalk series on using the Internet, including How to Use Social Media. The quote from Mathew Henry that we are to be "active in our own business, yet quiet as to other people's" was worth jotting down in my diary.

 One funny moment was Mercy calling out "Dave, DAAAVE, Davvvve" from her cot . . . she must be copying someone, but do I really sound that demanding? I'll be watching myself more carefully!

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iSonto #43

This week we are thankful for the sunny days that have allowed more play in the yard.

The children have been playing better together. Here they are sitting happily on a chair reading together of their own accord!

We were able to have one set of neighbours over for dinner and take cookies to a new neighbour.

We have organised our midwife for a homebirth.

Elnathan was a happy napper during a couple of his rest times. Usually he sits in bed and looks at books but occasionally sleep overcomes him!

A verse we are studying together is Exodus 20:12 "Honour your father and your mother". I made four laminated picture memory verses for Elnathan as a nearly two year-old, and have added a couple this year with Mercy in mind, which we love to look at together at lunch time. This is just one of the verses we have been going over together. Mercy is very pleased to say each word after me and Nate is pleased that he can say the whole verse. Everyone is happy!


Mercy was dressed in her new apron which matches mine.We have had some happy times in the kitchen together this week, both children super thrilled to be involved! It is fun that they are getting to this stage. We don't mind the mess as long as everyone is happy.

Mercy also wanted to put away the cutlery, usually Elnathan's job, and she did a remarkable job for a first try considering that it took me months to teach Nate to do it! Maybe the teacher is improving!

From garden to tummies . . . kale for a curry. It is always a pleasure to hear Nate ask "what will we get from the garden for dinner today".

 A book we enjoyed together was Under the Ground, which created many conversations about hot lava and magma!

Now we are following this up with a book on volcanoes. 

Encouragement, ideas and inspiration came from the "Family Vision" devotions I put together when Nate was a baby. This is the first year he has been able to partly appreciate them, and it has been fun to enjoy object lessons like a gift to illustrate faith as a gift, or burning a picture of the earth to illustrate what will happen at the end of the world. The work is paying off with fun family times around God's word . . . and I am so glad I put these together when I had more time for quiet pursuits! Now I am developing a box for the illustrations/objects so I don't need to look for them yearly.

 One funny moment was Mercy bursting into laughter then saying "Mercy funny".

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