Farewell to our beloved Babette Editorial
On July 17 this year, Babette Francis AM — a wife, mother, tireless champion of the unborn, and founder of Endeavour Forum — passed away.
Born and raised in India, in 1953 Babette met and married Australian barrister Charles Francis (1924–2009), who would later become a QC, sit as MP in Victoria's state parliament, and be honoured with the Order of Australia. Charles and Babette raised eight children (four girls and four boys). At the time of her death she had 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Babette during her lifetime was an indefatigable fighter for the unborn and a strong advocate for family values.
In 1979, she founded Endeavour Forum, Inc. (originally called Women Who Want to be Women), a pro-family, pro-life non-government organisation (NGO) with special consultative status with the Economic & Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC). For decades Endeavour Forum has held annual NGO "Parallel Events" on pro-life issues at the UN in New York, including during sessions of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Babette herself was a regular speaker at America's Eagle Forum, Human Life International world conferences in the USA and Canada, and the World Congress of Families (in Prague and Geneva). In October 1995 she was invited by the Pontifical Council for the Family to chair the English language group's discussion at the Third World Congress of Pro-Life Movements, held in Rome.
She was also the Australian representative of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer and did much to publicise the medical research of America's Dr Joel Brind and Dr Angela Lanfranchi.
She was an outspoken critic of radical feminism and affirmative action (i.e., preferential hiring of women over men). She pleaded for the introduction of family-friendly taxation so that married women could, if they chose to do so, afford to leave the paid workforce to raise their children at home.
Babette was a staunch opponent of moves to expand the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. She refused to support halfway measures, such as same-sex civil partnerships and relationships registers, because she feared that this sort of compromise would embolden the enemies of the natural family.
She denounced the pro-abortion agenda of Australia's powerful EMILY's List — a left-wing feminist caucus inside the Australian Labor Party founded by two former state premiers, Joan Kirner (Victoria) and Carmen Lawrence (Western Australia). Babette's exposés of EMILY's List were published in Australia's News Weekly (September 1, 2007, and August 21, 2010).
In 2011, she warned about the subversive agenda of Australia's so-called Safe Schools Coalition, a Marxist-inspired program to promote homosexuality in schools under the guise of tackling bullying. She showed how its deceptive "safe schools" moniker had originated with America's Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), whose founder, Kevin Jennings, in 2009, became a top official in President Barack Obama's Department of Education (News Weekly, June 11, 2011).
Babette was also a founding patron of the Drug Advisory Council of Australia (DACA), which today plays a prominent role in publicising the dangers of illicit drugs.
Two years ago, Babette was named a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the Queen's Birthday 2022 Honours List "for significant service to the community through a range of roles".
Last year, on November 25, Endeavour Forum supporters gathered in St Philip's Catholic Primary School in Blackburn North, Victoria, to pay tribute to Babette and to celebrate 44 years of the organisation she founded, Endeavour Forum, Inc. Special guest speakers at the event were Bishop Peter Elliott and Christian commentator Bill Muehlenberg. Owing to her frail health, Babette had to leave before the event. As she was helped to her feet, the audience rose to give her a standing ovation.
Widely misunderstood and misrepresented by Australia's elites, but adored by her supporters and allies, Babette was always prepared when necessary to swim against the tide of popular opinion. Thanks to her strong Catholic faith and wide reading, she was extraordinarily perceptive about current politics and social trends, both in Australia and overseas.
Her firmly-held views have not diminished in relevance by one iota. The evils against which she contended — such as the killing of the unborn and the attacks on family values — are the very things against which her successors will continue to struggle for a long time to come.
