1. OPINION WEEKEND NEWS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015 11
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Andrew Bogut
Picture: AP Photo
Today is the birthday of
Andrew Bogut, Australian
basketball player (1984 - ).
Andrew Bogut was the No.1
pick in the 2005 NBA draft
and has played in a champion-
ship with the Golden State
Warriors.
The sport-loving son of
Croatian immigrants showed
early his fierce determination
to be the best.
Being cut from a junior Victor-
ian representative team as a
teen only strengthened his
determination to succeed and
by 20 he was on his way.
He had joined the Australian
Institute of Sport on two US
tours, was named best player
of the under-19 world cham-
pionships, was awarded
Freshman of the Year during
his first year of college bas-
ketball and represented Aus-
tralia at the 2004 Athens
Olympics.
In his second season at Uni-
versity of Utah, Bogut won
most of the individual awards
in US college competition.
Milwaukee Bucks then used
their No.1 draft pick on Bogut
in 2005.
At the 2006 world champion-
ships, Bogut was leading Aus-
tralia in points and rebounds.
Nearing the end of a superb
season in 2010, Bogut suf-
fered a dislocated elbow and
a broken hand. He was out for
the rest of the season.
Attempts to return home to
play in the NBL in 2011-12
were thwarted when the
Bucks demanded the remain-
ing US$39 million on Bogut's
contract be covered by insur-
ance.
But he still had a positive
impact on the local scene by
establishing the Andrew
Bogut Basketball Academy in
Melbourne.
The classy defender was
traded to the Golden State
Warriors in California in 2012
and overcame ankle and knee
issues to star in the 2013
playoffs.
Two months later, Bogut pul-
led on the Boomers shirt to
help Australia qualify for the
Rio Olympics. He currently
lives in California.
Protesters, please, stay away
elaine.cooney
@sheppnews.com.au
ELAINEELAINE
COONEYCOONEY
Exclusion zone: Women will now get some breathing space from harassment around fertility control clinics.
THOSE WHO PROTEST AGAINST WOMEN
OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINICS WILL
NOT LISTEN TO REASON
Yesterday marked one of
the greatest decisions by the
Victorian Government to
help women at one of their
most vulnerable times.
Deciding to put an
exclusion zone of 150 m out-
side abortion clinics and GP
practices and health ser-
vices where abortions are
carried out to prevent pro-
testers from harassing
women should have been
done a long time ago.
We have had decades of
pestering by ‘‘pro-lifers’’
who insist on poking their
noses into women’s per-
sonal business.
With the development of
technology in the past dec-
ade, the intimidation te-
chniques have become
insufferable with protesters
filming and photographing
women entering abortion
clinics.
These people claim to
care about unborn children
but pay no regard to anyone
else’s life.
Maybe the woman is un-
dergoing an abortion
because pregnancy could
threaten her own life; maybe
the woman was raped and
chooses not give birth to her
rapist’s child; maybe the
woman cannot mentally
cope with with pregnancy.
Or maybe it is just her
choice not to have a child.
But these placard-
brandishing villains do not
care about our reasons, they
simply want to make their
point paying no heed to
what inner turmoil the wo-
man is facing or the fragility
of her mental or physical
health.
These new laws do not
curtail freedom of speech:
protesters can still continue
with their street marches,
with their posters and on
blogs, social media and
through the angry letter to
the editor, but at least others
now have a safe space to
carry out their business
without interference from
them.
Those who protest against
women outside abortion cli-
nics will not listen to reason
as to why we need abortion
clinics in Australia.
I come from Ireland — a
country where abortion is
still illegal, and I can tell you
that the abortions there
continue being performed.
Through my work as a
journalist, I was given a
‘‘tour’’ of a backstreet abor-
tion clinic in Ireland.
On the top floor of a
townhouse, on bare con-
crete, women were in make-
shift wards separated by
sheets hung on clotheslines
and — without going into
graphic detail — the condi-
tions were unsanitary to say
the very least.
Thus, abortion clinics that
ensure procedures are car-
ried out in a safe and sterile
environment in line with
First World medical facilities
are essential, regardless of
moral viewpoints.
I once had a conversation
with a man who was a pro-
lifer, and who, for Christian
reasons, wanted abortion
banned in Australia.
He absolutely did not care
if women underwent illegal
abortions that damaged
their health. Now, where is
the Christianity in that?
Letters to the Editor
Conflict’s a waste
Jiri Kolenaty, Rushworth
Human character varies to
a great extent.
Some people may be
related by birth or marriage,
yet they cannot resolve their
differences in a civil manner.
Others may belong to the
same nationality, or race, but
keep fighting each other.
This is taking place in
addition to the hostilities
between different races, na-
tions, social classes and re-
ligions.
Constant conflicts are
preventing people from liv-
ing in harmony and disturb-
ing the world’s peace.
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