Macquarie MP Susan Templeman has hit back at a Queensland anti-abortion group for targeting her seat in this Saturday's federal election.
Ms Templeman said the claims made by Cherish Life - including that "more babies would die under a Bill Shorten Labor government" - "are complete rubbish".
"The states and territories are responsible for abortion laws and set gestational limits," said Ms Templeman. "Late term abortions are very rare. When they do happen, it's because of serious risks to the woman's health or devastating foetal abnormalities."
Ms Templeman said the "anti-choice group was stuffing people's letterboxes with baseless lies".
But Cherish Life executive director Teeshan Johnson said this itself was "a lie".
"Our flyer is completely accurate. Indeed [our] television commercial - which has been airing in Queensland - contains all the same claims as the flyer. The TV commercial had to get CAD (Commercials Advice) approval and achieved G rating. To get CAD approval you must be able to legally prove every statement, we did this and it passed the scrutiny of the independent media lawyers at CAD."
She said federal Labor has stated it wants uniform abortion laws across Australia to fix what it claims is the "patchwork of inconsistent" abortion laws between states and territories.
Macquarie is one of the marginal seats Cherish Life has targeted in the election. It is believed Ms Templeman's former position as a board member of NSW Family Planning has contributed to the seat being included on the group's list.
Ms Templeman said she is "very proud to have advocated for women's sexual and reproductive rights as a Board member of NSW Family Planning some years ago, and believe that choice and access to basic health care are fundamental rights".
"Every Australian woman should have access to the health services they need, where and when they need them," she said.
The Gazette has contacted the Liberal candidate for Macquarie, Sarah Richards, about her stance on the issue and Cherish Life's campaign.
