Why Dr Joanna Howe Deserves the Title ‘Mother of The Year’

Joanna Interviewing me about Archie, my son born at 24 weeks

The New South Wales parliamentarians can’t unite on important issues of cost of living, education or infrastructure, but yet there is bipartisan support to attempt to “cancel” a mother of five who is peacefully expressing a pro-life view. Inconveniently for Chris Minns and Mark Speakman, this is actually the Catholic view – expressed so succinctly by Pope Francis, the very Pope Speakman posted about on LinkedIn a few weeks earlier – as abortion being “like hiring a hitman to solve a problem”. Whatever one’s views on abortion, Joanna is honest. She does what she says and says what she means. And the same cannot be said of our politicians, who are using hit-man-style tactics to try and take Joanna out.

Premier Chris Minns, who has previously described himself as Catholic, has not publicly clarified how his support for the bill aligns with Church teachings on life. There is a similar disconnect with Speakman, who posted on LinkedIn just last month, praying that His Holiness Pope Francis “rests in the eternal peace of Christ” and praising the Pope’s commitment to “offering hope to the marginalised”. But where is the hope for the unborn, who are perhaps the most in need? In my opinion these poll-first platitudes to Christian voters are disingenuous, superficial and quite frankly, speak to the urgent need to overhaul the current leadership in favour of honest citizens. The betrayal of Mark Speakman, who has in recent times been dubbed Mark Weak-man by disgruntled conservatives, is an especially deep cut. Et tu, Brute?

By contrast, when I first met Joanna Howe earlier this year, I was impressed. She was warm, charismatic and authentic – and the first thing she did was offer to help me by holding my four-month-old baby who I had brought to the pro-life rally she was leading. Of course I said yes, because a mother who can be so vocal about supporting little babies has my absolute trust to hold my child. This is somewhat significant, as I am speaking as a new mother who wouldn’t let immediate family hold this precious baby for weeks and who has often lamented unwanted touches from strangers, but yet with Joanna I was instantly at ease.

Joanna was leading the rally outside parliament in Sydney with her husband and two oldest children in tow. Immediately, it was obvious the level of personal sacrifice this mother was making with her own family, in order to advocate against the abortion bill before parliament which was threatening conscientious objection for health professionals. Like other mothers at the rally, and one mother there impressively brought all her five children including a newborn, I was just so grateful that someone was finally standing up for religious freedom and the rights of the unborn.

This rally, which was my first-ever rally, spoke spades about its leader. In contrast to media grabs of violent and sensationalised protests, this rally was peaceful, emotional, informative and child-friendly. Jo was making her way through a diverse crowd especially full of medical professionals and young women, all of whom wanted to meet her to express their profound gratitude for the unpopular role she was taking on in leading this fight. This gratitude was just the tip of the iceberg: many of my mum friends couldn’t make it with their kids on a weekday but were so relieved and thankful there was another mum who was tackling this head on. Someone was doing something.

Over the course of the next month I met Joanna on multiple occasions, as she was a frequent flier from her Adelaide home up to Sydney – and I can only imagine how difficult it was balancing this with her five young children. I agreed to do an interview with her about my son Archie’s story of his premature birth at twenty-four weeks, another first for me. Jo was running late because of traffic coming back from a letterbox drop in a marginal seat. She helped with the pram and kept apologising about being late while we made our way up to the hotel room. As we opened the door to the room, she warned me it was a bit messy and she hadn’t had a chance to clean up, as she hurriedly grabbed some clothes off the floor and the bed whilst also trying to order room service for a late lunch. She was so relatable. Just another mum doing her best. Not letting the little things stand in the way of the big things.

A smart woman, Dr Joanna Howe stepped into the public arena knowing it would be challenging. I suspect it is quite lonely being a solitary figure in a sea of hatred from the politicians and one-sided media, although there is a large and somewhat hidden counter-cultural community who share the same family values. Joanna knew that stones would be cast at her, and that they would hurt. As a fellow mother and Australian, believing we live in a democratic country, I find the attempt to silence her unsettling and disturbing. Both the Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, two of the most powerful people in the state, have participated in what from the outside looking in appears to be a new-age witch-hunt. Accusations of bullying and spreading misinformation are being lobbed at Joanna from the left, right and centre. The criticism appears to hinge on Joanna’s social media posts, emails to politicians, letterbox drops and public speeches advocating for medical professionals' rights to conscientious objection, positions consistent with international norms around religious freedom.

It seems to this writer that this blistering attack is simply by virtue of Dr Joanna Howe’s pro-life lobbying which is well within the legal (and dare I say cultural) scope of democracy. Is a pro-life activist such a shock to our politicians? You’d think they would be used to the cut and thrust of politics and debate. Or perhaps they are too used to politics without accountability, and calling Dr Joanna Howe a bully is simply bad rhetoric?

From what I can see, Dr Joanna Howe is a wonderful mother, not only to her own five children, but to all of the 88,000 unborn babies who are killed in Australia every year. She is not a monstrous bully. This is a ludicrous claim against Joanna levied by weak, unpopular politicians who seem to fear the Greens more than their God. I gave Jo a hug as we parted ways when parliament was adjourned for the day, one thing running through my mind. She has my vote – not just for Mother of the Year, but for the kind of leadership this country desperately needs.

By Ashleigh-Blaise Mills

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