A new bill introduced today by Liberal MLA Vicki Dunne will reinforce abortion as a crime in the ACT, Labor MLA Wayne Berry said today. Mr Berry has a bill to before the Assembly to decriminalise abortion in the ACT.
“Mrs Dunne’s bill is a transparent attempt to reinforce abortion as a crime in the ACT and demonstrates just how out of touch she is with the community. Women faced with an unwanted pregnancy should not have a gaol sentence hanging over their head if they choose to terminate the pregnancy.
“The bill introduced today by Mrs Dunne attempts the farcical by reducing the 10 year gaol sentence to a 1 month gaol sentence. Mrs Dunne seems to have the extraordinary view that the community will be happy if a woman is open to a lesser gaol sentence along with a criminal record if she has an abortion.
“At the same time she intends the retention of a 10 year gaol sentences for a doctor who assists a woman to terminate a pregnancy.
“Vicki Dunne has shown herself to be a hard-line Right to Life campaigner who seems to think the community welcomes women being punished if they have an abortion and that women who have made the difficult decision in the past are continually berated with anti-abortion rantings.
“Women should have all the protection that goes with any other medical procedure without the tub thumping misinformation that comes from Mrs Dunne and her Right to Life supporters. They should be left in peace like anyone else who has had a medical procedure.
“The only compassionate outcome from this debate is to repeal the repugnant Osborne legislation with its provisions aimed at punishing women for having an abortion and to repeal the abhorrent crimes of abortion. This is what my bills before the ACT Legislative Assembly will do.
“People in the community do not believe that a woman considering an abortion should have the threat of a gaol sentence hanging over her head. Mrs Dunne’s bill is nothing more that a desperate attempt to prevent the decriminalisation of abortion in the ACT,” Mr berry concluded.