What’s that quote-no policy win is permanent, no defeat everlasting? In Australia, the Howard government had banned aid to fund abortions in developing nations. Now an opposition coalition is moving to overturn that ban.

A federal Liberal MP who chairs an all-party parliamentary group wants the Rudd Labor government to end the ban on funding family planning advice for women in developing countries, calling the ban stupid and anti-women.

and  

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said Australia must do everything it could to give people in the developing world a reasonable expectation of a healthy life.

Anti-woman? Abortions offer a healthy life? Hello, unsubstantiated opinion-goodbye reasonable effort to stop the advent of abortion in developing countries where access to basic health care is a problem, forget about abortion.

The bottom line: Don’t count on governments to stem the tide of abortion extremism. And I might add, that’s a good thing. We should be able to discern all on our own what constitutes good policy, without the reigning elite telling us.