Urgent Action Required Now!
A woman is facing jail time for choosing to abort a pregnancy. Some doctors have withdrawn abortion services due to legal uncertainty and fears for their patients, meaning public services are even more difficult to access than previously. Anecdotal evidence suggests even women with severe health problems or those who are victims of sexual assault are unable to access an abortion in a public hospital. Opinion polling taken in May 2009 shows that 79% of Queenslanders want the law changed so abortion is no longer a crime, while an article published in July 2010 in the Medical Journal of Australia found almost 90% of Australians support legal abortion in the first trimester.
And yet - the Queensland Government has stated several times in recent months that it has no plans to change current abortion legislation. This is not good enough.
Parliamentarians need to act NOW to ensure no other women have to face prosecution for choosing abortion. They need to ensure doctors are free to practice without fear. They need to respond to the wishes of their constituents and act without delay to decriminalise abortion.
Queensland needs a law which recognises women as decision-makers worthy of respect. We need a law which places the abortion decision in the hands of women and their doctors, not politicians or police.
We need this law now. Help us tell Parliament that it is time to act. The women of Queensland have waited far too long already. Make your voice heard!
Send a personal email to your MP today.
Tell your representatives they must reject calls to maintain the current laws. Make sure that they understand that you say "yes" to an abortion law reform outcome that leaves no woman behind.
Here are some points you may wish to consider in writing to your MPs:
- The decision on whether to continue with an unplanned pregnancy should be in the hands of the woman concerned. This decision will impact on her life and the life of her partner and family, first and foremost - the decision needs to belong to them, not to politicians or police.
- In Queensland, abortion laws are now over 100 years old and date from the 19th century - before Australia became a federation and before doctors began washing their hands to prevent the spread of disease.
- Polls consistently show that around 80% of the Australian population supports decriminalisation. In Queensland-specific polling, a survey conducted by independent pollsters Auspoll in May 2009 found 79% of respondents wanted the law changed so abortion is no longer a crime.
- Legal, health and social welfare experts have repeatedly recommended the repeal of abortion law across many jurisdictions, including Queensland.
- In April 2009, a 19 year old woman and her 21 year old partner were charged in Cairns after allegedly using an abortifacient drug to end a pregnancy. The case has yet to be heard in court, but exposes the oft-made excuse for not reforming abortion law - - "nobody is ever charged" - for a fallacy. No woman has been charged under this section of the Criminal Code before in Queensland.
- Despite the Government's amendments to the Criminal Code which give medical abortion the same 'protection' as surgical abortion, access to medical abortion is still patchy - reflecting doctors' concerns that the changes are not enough to protect them or their patients.
- The lack of training pathways due to the legal uncertainty around the procedure means there are very few doctors training in the area of abortion provision. Many of Queensland's providers are approaching retirement age, leading to concerns that even our current patchy abortion provision may worsen, leading many women disadvantaged.
- The current out-of-pocket costs for a first-trimester abortion in Brisbane start from $370, and rises to over $800 in regional areas. This makes the procedure prohibitively expensive for some women.
- Outside the southeast corner of Queensland, clinic services are only available in three regional centres - Rockhampton, Townsville or Cairns (and Cairns services are now limited). Women in rural and remote areas are faced with the high costs of travel and accommodation, as well as the personal distress this can cause, on top of the high cost of the procedure itself, placing them at severe disadvantage when compared with their urban sisters.
- Abortion is a decision many Queensland women and their partners face – statistics estimate that up to one in three women in Australia will choose abortion during their lifetime.
- Taking no action on this case and on law reform is taking a stance by default. It is effectively saying that abortion should be a criminal offence, and that any woman who has had or will have an abortion should face seven years in jail. Is the Queensland Parliament happy to say on the record that one third of its female citizens are criminals?
