Mehreen Faruqi said she was heartened by support from legal academics for her bill to decriminalise abortion in NSW. Photograph: Chris James/AAP
Greens upper house member Mehreen Faruqi says law should reflect that women seeking abortions and doctors performing them are not criminals
by Bridie Jabour
Thursday 11 August 2016 04.23 BST
More than 100 academics have called on the New South Wales government to take abortion off the criminal code as Greens upper house member Mehreen Faruqi prepares to introduce the legislation.
Law and criminology academics from across the state have signed a letter saying it is time to decriminalise abortion and calling for privacy zones to be introduced around abortion service providers and clinics.
Luke McNamara, the University of New South Wales law professor who organised the letter, said criminal law should be kept in line with community expectations.
“In this context social values have changed, this is widely recognised, maybe not universally recognised, it’s appropriate for a woman to have the right to choose an abortion, and criminal law should not be inconsistent with that basic principle,” he said.
Source: The Guardian