19 February 2021
South Australia finally looks set to join the rest of the country following historic abortion law reform.
Just after 2am this morning, after more than 22 hours of debate, SA’s Lower House passed the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020, 29 votes to 15. The Bill, which decriminalises abortion, will now move back to the Upper House where it is expected to become law.
The ANMF (SA Branch) had earlier joined leading health, legal and community groups in calling on South Australian parliamentarians to vote in support of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020.
Thirty-two groups, including the ANMF (SA Branch), Amnesty International Australia, the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Public Health Association of Australia, signed an open letter to MPs urging them to support the reform in a looming conscience vote.
The ANMF (SA Branch) acknowledges the important step forward this Bill represents in removing the regulation of abortion from criminal law and recognising that termination of a pregnancy is a lawful health procedure.
This outcome will see South Australia modernise the law and fully decriminalise abortion as has been the case in every other state already.
“The Bill promotes the autonomy, dignity and wellbeing of patients who need to end a pregnancy – by providing a pathway to a more compassionate reproductive healthcare system for South Australians,” the open letter, led by Fair Agenda and the South Australian Abortion Action Coalition, said.
“In particular, we note the profoundly personal and complex circumstances in which patients need abortion care later in pregnancy. Given this, we strongly support the approach outlined in the Bill, which enables patients and medical professionals to jointly make decisions about their healthcare needs after 22 weeks and 6 days in pregnancy. We consider the proposed Bill provides an approach that is both medically appropriate and compassionate for the patients facing these distressing circumstances.
“We also support the provisions to ensure a health practitioner’s personal beliefs don’t interfere with their patient’s access to timely abortion care.’’
Read the full open letter here:
https://www.fairagenda.org/blog_saopenletter