Abortion is now legal across Australia – but it’s still hard to access. Doctors are both the problem and the solution

December 5, 2023
Barbara Baird, Associate Professor, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University

Abortion is now fully legal in every jurisdiction in Australia. Western Australia became the last state to decriminalise it just two months ago, in September 2023. And the Australian population is solidly pro-choice: a 2021 study found 76% of Australians support access to abortion.

Yet access to abortion care here has been described as a “lottery” in a 2023 Senate inquiry report. My research into abortion provision in Australia over the past 30 years doesn’t describe chance, but an inadequate system.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-now-legal-across-australia-but-its-still-hard-to-access-doctors-are-both-the-problem-and-the-solution-216278

Australia’s support for safe abortion globally

by Bettina Baldeschi, Daile Kelleher and Anu Kumar
10 October 2023

Last month, Western Australia passed landmark reforms removing barriers to accessing abortion, bringing it into line with other states in Australia. While there are still practical barriers to access, particularly for marginalised groups, every state and territory in Australia has now decriminalised abortion, and the National Women’s Health Strategy lays out a framework for universal access by 2030.

Globally, the picture is very different. Half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. In Asia and the Pacific there are 140 million women with an unmet need for family planning. 13% of maternal deaths worldwide result from unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://devpolicy.org/australias-support-for-safe-abortion-globally-20231010/

10.10.2023

Western Australia abortion law

Abortion now fully Decriminalised in Western Australia

24 Sep 2023
Christian Tym, A Rich Life

Abortion was completely removed from the criminal code in Western Australia this week. This makes it the final one of Australia’s states and territories to fully decriminalise abortion.

It had been an emotional debate in WA, following last month’s intervention from Jackie Jarvis, the state’s Agriculture Minister. Jarvis revealed she underwent an abortion in the early 1990s after being raped, though abortion was still illegal in the state at the time.

Continued: https://arichlife.com.au/abortion-now-fully-decriminalised-in-western-australia/

24.09.2023

News

abortion law reform

decriminalisation of abortion

Peter Abetz

Sue Ellery

Western Australia abortion law

Australia – Landmark reforms to WA’s abortion laws pass state parliament

Landmark reforms to WA's abortion laws pass state parliament

By WA state political reporter Keane Bourke
Sep 20, 2023

Landmark reforms to Western Australia's abortion laws have passed the state's parliament.

The changes were announced in June to streamline access to abortion and bring WA's regulations in line with other states.

Key changes included removing the need for women to be referred for an abortion by a doctor, no longer requiring women undergo mandatory counselling and moving provisions out of WA's criminal code.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-20/reform-wa-abortion-laws-pass-state-parliament/102881738

20.09.2023