Australia: ‘Completely out of step’: Abortion to remain a crime in NSW after reform bill fails

'Completely out of step': Abortion to remain a crime in NSW after reform bill fails

The majority of the state's upper house has voted down a Greens bill that would have decriminalised abortion in NSW.

By Ben Winsor
11 May 2017

Abortion will remain a crime in NSW after members of the Legislative Council voted down a Greens bill aimed at overturning the 100-year-old law.

Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi's Abortion Law Reform Bill was defeated 25 to 14 in the state parliament's upper house.

The bill received support from eight Labor MLCs and all five Greens MLCs, as well as Animal Justice Party MLC Mark Pearson.

Public members in the gallery shouted "shame" as the result of the conscience vote was announced in the Legislative Council.

“I am disappointed that the NSW Legislative Council has voted to keep abortion a Crime in NSW,” Dr Faruqi said.

Continued at source: SBS News: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/11/completely-out-step-abortion-remain-crime-nsw-after-reform-bill-fails

11.05.2017

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Australia: Protesters call for removal of abortion from NSW Crimes Act

Protesters call for removal of abortion from NSW Crimes Act

May 9, 2017

Abortion rights campaigners gathered outside the NSW Parliament on Tuesday in a renewed push to decriminalise abortion and to create protest-free zones around clinics.

Purple postcards bearing the slogan "Decriminalise abortion. Safe access" were hung on the fence outside Parliament House on Macquarie Street.

Continued at link: Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/protesters-call-for-removal-of-abortion-from-nsw-crimes-act-20170509-gw0xbn.html

Australia: These Doctors Don’t Want Abortion To Be A Crime

These Doctors Don't Want Abortion To Be A Crime

“[Doctors] have been working around and dodging the law and manipulating things so that our patients get the care they need."

Posted on April 30, 2017
Gina Rushton
BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

"One third of ordinary Australian women choose to have a termination and those women are not criminals," Ramsay, who specialises in gynaecological ultrasounds and prenatal diagnosis, told BuzzFeed News.

"[Doctors] have been working around and dodging the law and manipulating things so that our patients get the care they need, but we are all aware that officially abortion is illegal and it is talked about in hushed tones.

Continued at source: Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/these-doctors-dont-want-abortion-to-be-a-crime?

Abortion must be decriminalised in Australia: we can’t take our reproductive rights for granted

Abortion must be decriminalised in Australia: we can’t take our reproductive rights for granted
Mehreen Faruqi

Despite a majority of people supporting a woman’s right to choose, abortion is still a criminal offence in Queensland and NSW. It’s time to remove the shame and end the stigma

Mehreen Faruqi is a Greens NSW MP and the Greens spokeswoman on multiculturalism and transport

Wednesday 8 March 2017

It’s 17 years into the 21st century, yet the most basic right of women to have control over their own bodies is under attack not just in Trump’s United States but across the world – even in Australia.

One of the first executive orders signed by the US president reinstated and expanded the global gag rule which will strip US aid funds from NGOs that provide abortion or related services, including information or referrals, or even advocate for modernising abortion laws. This could impact millions of women in the most vulnerable circumstances by blocking their access to vital health services. Bolstered by this decision, the anti-choice lobby’s calls to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood have become even stronger and louder.

Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/08/abortion-must-be-decriminalised-in-australia-we-cant-take-our-reproductive-rights-for-granted

08.03.2017

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Australia: Abortion Should Be Decriminalised

Published August 29, 2016 | By Julian Savulescu

Abortion remains a crime in Queensland and NSW in Australia. Queensland Parliament has just decided against decriminalising abortion. However, laws are obsolete and unclear, dating back over 100 years. Around 100,000 abortions are performed around Australia every year. In practice, early abortion is available on demand.

Abortion should be decriminalised. Early abortion should be freely and easily available on request. Late abortion should be freely and easily available at least for those who have a valid justification: significant fetal abnormality, threat to woman’s health or serious social reason, for example child pregnancy or rape. Family planning, including safe, free and open abortion services, is an essential part of a civilized society.

Failure to regulate abortion properly results in women being denied safe, effective abortion services, affecting their mental health and social welfare, as well as those of their family and society. It is stigmatising to women and health professionals to allow abortion to occur, while retaining it as a criminal offence. It is also moral hypocrisy.

[continued at link]
Source: Practical Ethics blog

29.08.2016