Those members who tackled Empowering Women found the writing rather hard going and at times repetitive but the subject interesting enough to press on to the end. They admired the determination of Dr Susie Allanson who slogged for many years to provide a legally safe passage for staff, women and their families to enter the Fertility Control Clinic in Melbourne where she worked, without harassment from people protesting against abortion and contraception. Members also enjoyed reading the verbatim commentary from a range of people about the events.
The book opens in 1991 in Melbourne when Dr Allanson first started work at the clinic as a clinical psychologist, supporting women to make a range of complex and difficult decisions about their reproductive health.
'Backyard abortion' had been illegal in Victoria since 1969 but the first legal abortion clinic to be established in that State did not open until 1972. This followed the 1969 Menhennitt and 1971 Levine legal decisions about what constituted lawful termination. While abortion was still listed under the Crimes Act, if a doctor decided that a pregnancy termination was necessary to save the life or mental health of a woman, a crime of abortion was deemed not to have been committed (Menhennitt). The definition of danger to a woman's life or body was later extended by Levine to include consideration of economic and social as well as medical reasons.
However, harassment of staff and clients of the Fertility Control Clinic by anti-abortionists began to ratchet up in the 1980s. By the 1990s it consisted of regular protest marches, sit-ins, stalkings, and the intimidation and vilification of anyone entering the clinic, traumatising clients and the staff and their families alike.
With few exceptions, police apparently saw their role as one of 'balance', protecting the democratic rights of the protesters and turning a blind eye to daily harassment. This reached its zenith when an extremist murdered a security guard in the reception area of the clinic in 2001. The killer was arrested and eventually received life imprisonment. However, the next day at the clinic the police continued to 'balance rights' and allowed protesters to gather in their usual fashion, obstructing staff and clients from entering and leaving the clinic.
With the shock of the murder and the subsequent inaction by the authorities, Dr Susie Allanson and other staff and supporters began lobbying the Melbourne City Council (MCC) for the control of 'nuisances' under the Health Act, fighting for a 150 metre buffer zone for the safety, privacy and peaceful access by the Council's constituents to a medical clinic via a public footpath.
No action beyond 'monitoring' of the situation by the Council followed. Susie began lobbying the State Government and seeking support from women's and pro-choice groups. In late 2004 it was thought the clinic should act by seeking an injunction from the Supreme Court against the trespassing extremists, similar to the action taken by the Royal Women's Hospital which also provided legal terminations. However, in contrast to the large public hospital, the clinic was small and private with access by a humble footpath. Legal counsel advised the action would fail.
Despite laws to provide safe 'bubbles' being enacted in other western countries, Victorian politicians in the early 2000s argued that a safe access zone could only ever happen in that State after decriminalisation of abortion. (NB: The book focuses on the history in Victoria; the experience in other Australian states was similar but occurred on different timelines.)
It took ten more years of effort, the decriminalisation of abortion in 2008, and a Supreme Court action by the clinic against the MCC in 2015 to bring about the access zone. When protesters subsequently broke the new law, it was finally enshrined by the High Court four years later in 2019.
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Some members decided that Empowering Women was too much like hard work for a holiday read over Christmas and elected to read The Clan of The Cave Bear instead. They found Jean Auel's book to be well researched and intelligently written. The satisfying story (the first of a series of six books) is set in prehistoric Europe about a young girl, Ayla, who is found by a woman of the Clan after a powerful earthquake has killed the members of her own very different tribe, leaving her injured, helpless and alone.
Ayla grows up to show her new clans people some of the positives of enabling her to reach her potential and use her special skills to help them all. But at the same time she scandalises the members of the male patriarchy who benefit from traditional tribal laws and the subservience of the female clan members.
Who is Susie Atkinson?
Dr Susie Allanson is a retired clinical psychologist who practised in Melbourne for almost 40 years. She was the clinical psychologist at the Fertility Control Clinic in Melbourne for 26 years.
Susie’s clinical work also focused on children and families in settings such as the Royal Children’s Hospital, Children’s Court Clinic, schools and her private practice.
She has served on the Board of Family Planning Victoria and various committees, been a supervisor and reviewer, and has spoken and written about pregnancy and abortion in various forums and in professional journals.
In addition to writing Empowering Women with lawyer, writer and broadcaster, Lizzie O'Shea, Susie is the author of Murder on His Mind, about the murder of the security guard at the Fertility Control Clinic, and the novel Genevieve Knows Too Much.
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