Architects of the first law to decriminalize abortion in Australia say Roe v Wade’s repeal in the U.S. was a major setback for reproductive rights, and more changes are needed at home to better enshrine access.
Key points:
- In 1998, WA became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalize abortion
- The women behind this historic reform say the state is now falling behind
- They say young women should pick up the baton after Roe vs. Wade
In 1998, Western Australia was the first country in the country to remove most criminal sanctions for pregnant patients requesting the procedure and the doctors who provided it.
Cheryl Davenport, who introduced the bill in the WA upper house, tried to remove sections of the penal code that allowed doctors to be imprisoned for 14 years and patients up to seven.
Ms Davenport said the cancellation of Roe v Wade in the US was a terrible development.
“I felt like we had gone back 50 years,” he said.
Ms Davenport introduced Australia’s first abortion decriminalization reform in the upper house of the Washington parliament. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)
The changes that led to WA nearly 25 years ago were brought about by two doctors charged under the law.
He said then that concessions had to be made to get the numbers in parliament and that WA laws were now lagging behind the rest of the country.
“We’ve had to make commitments and they’re the commitments you see today,” Ms. Davenport said.
Under Western Australian law, a patient requesting an abortion should receive advice on the medical risk of both termination and the pregnancy of a second doctor who is not performing the procedure.
However, abortion is widely accepted by medical authorities as safer than carrying out a pregnancy.
Protesters gathered Saturday at the CBD in Perth to demand better access to abortion in WA, as part of a nationwide demonstration. (ABC News: David Weber)
In the rest of Australian jurisdictions, only one doctor is required, but a second one is taken for abortions after a certain number of weeks.
Also, in WA, beyond 20 weeks, two members of a specially appointed ethics panel of six doctors must agree that the fetus or mother has a “serious medical condition” that justifies the procedure.
By law, a procedure from the previous 20 weeks can only be performed at King Edwards Memorial Hospital.
Children under the age of 16 may not have an abortion unless a parent has been informed of custody and given the opportunity to participate in the counseling process.
Former Labor MP Diana Warnock, who led the historic 1998 bill in WA’s lower house, was “absolutely horrified” by the US Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v Wade.
“It was an outrage for me, as it will be for millions of women around the world, that a panel of people openly opposed to abortion because of their religion could make a decision about millions of other people. , that is, women., and bring them not only into the twentieth century, but into the nineteenth century, “Warnock said.
Mrs. Warnock led WA’s groundbreaking bill in the lower house. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)
It also supports changing WA laws if younger women want to take over.
“Abortion should be a decision for a woman because it is her body in the first instance that will be affected,” she said.
“I wonder how men would feel if a group of six women doctors could make a decision about their private parts.”
The first law decriminalizing abortion in Australia was passed in Western Australia in 1998. (ABC News: Rebecca Trigger)
WA Health Minister Amber Jade Sanderson said earlier this week that the laws were now obsolete and the government would study the reform.
“Along the way, several concessions were made to pass this legislation [in 1998]and I think they have shown that this has been an obstacle for women to access safe abortions, ”Ms Sanderson said.
“We are analyzing a number of women’s health issues, this is one of them.
“The … ethics panel … was established about 20 years ago. It’s probably not a suitable model for its purpose now, and we’ll look at that.”
WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says concessions made in 1998 are creating barriers to accessing them. (ABC News: Jessica Warriner)
But he did not say a change in law was a priority for the government.
“I think there is a lot of work that needs to be done in this area, not everything is legislative,” Ms. Sanderson said.
He cited costs and service delivery as two other areas where work needed to be done.
In WA there are only two service providers and one of them only carries out procedures for up to 13 weeks.
Parliamentarians would have a vote of conscience
Any reform of the abortion law cannot depend on party policy, with the vote of conscience in Labor MPs and Liberal parties, allowing government MPs to cross the field.
In WA, Ms. Sanderson should be confident she had the numbers in her own party before introducing amendments.
Last year, WA passed secure access legislation that prevents pickets from approaching an abortion clinic or family planning services within 150 meters, but did not make broader reforms.
WA Nationals leader Mia Davies has backed a change in law, but Nationals MPs have a free vote.
WA opposition leader Mia Davies supports changes to existing laws governing abortion in the state. (ABC News: James Carmody)
“There are deep convictions when it comes to matters like this,” Ms. Davies said.
“But for me, it’s as simple as saying women have control over their own bodies.”
Roe v Wade gives hope to the Australian Christian lobby
Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to revoke Roe v Wade, the powerful Liberal Party Conservative Nick Goiran told The West Australian that he was in an “unshakable position in favor of life.”
There is also resistance from outside parliament.
Former Liberal MP and now WA director of the Australian Christian lobby, Peter Abetz, said the Roe v Wade decision had been viewed very positively by groups in Australia.
“I guess it gives an element of hope that change is possible,” Abetz said.
“I think people often forget that the pro-life movement is really very strong in Australia.”
Peter Abetz says the Roe v Wade decision gave hope to Australian anti-abortion activists. (ABC News: Rebecca Carmody)
Abetz opposes any liberalization of abortion in WA.
He thinks it’s still too easy to get a late abortion even with the ethics panel, but he wouldn’t want them abolished.
“Obviously, we would like there to be no abortions,” Abetz said.
“The ethics panel has a very useful purpose, as it only provides another control for people to stop and think about whether they really want to continue with this.
“Because it’s really ending a baby’s life.”
He also expressed concern that freeing up access to abortion could allow termination due to a preference for a particular gender of the child.
“In some of our nation’s ethnic groups, of course, boys are much more sought after than girls,” she said.
“Feminists really should stand up and say it should be banned.”
Mr Abetz, who pushed for an ultimately unsuccessful move to change WA laws to require women to see 3D ultrasound before termination, wants Australian jurisdictions to further restrict access to the procedure.
“At one end of the hospital, we have doctors who use all sorts of medical technology to keep these babies, who are born soon, alive,” Abetz said.
“And yet, at the other end of the hospital, people are deliberately ending a baby’s life.
“And the poor baby has nothing to say on the matter.”
The abortion rate is low in WA
In Western Australia, the number of registered abortions has remained reasonably constant despite the increase in population.
In 2018, 7,816 induced abortions were recorded, the latest figures published by WA Health.
Of those recorded between 2016 and 2018, the youngest person to have an abortion was 12 years old, and the oldest was 52 years old.
Between 2016 and 2018, about 80% of abortions occurred during the first nine weeks of pregnancy.
Abortions performed at more than 20 weeks of gestation accounted for 1% of the total.