Keep the pressure on Queensland and the other states and territories to follow the lead from Victoria and ACT. A summary of abortion laws can be found on the The Children by Choice website.
The ACT has the most progressive law in the country. In 2002 they repealed the statutory and common law offences of abortion, and the procedure is now regulated in the Health Act. There is no evidence that any increase in demand for abortion at any stage of gestation has occurred.
In contrast, law reform in WA in 1998 has had less positive outcomes. The law is unnecessarily confusing prior to 20 weeks gestation, and after 20 weeks gestation access for termination is complex, requiring each woman’s case to be evaluated by a faceless committee. Documented problems with the regime include women feeling pressured to make a quick rather than considered decision after a negative fetal diagnosis when the pregnancy is less than 20 weeks, and of women failing to bond with babies they were compelled to deliver after being denied abortion by the committee. Read the Department of Health and Department of Justice’s Review of the Amendments (.pdf document 369 KB).
Access to abortions is frequently expensive and difficult to obtain. In March 2008, the Council of Europe invited all member states to decriminalise abortion on the grounds that “A ban on abortions does not result in fewer abortions, but mainly leads to clandestine abortions, which are more traumatic and more dangerous". See their full report Access to safe and legal abortion in Europe (.pdf document 123 KB).
FACTS from ProChoiceNSW
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