The ACT Legislative Assembly today passed three bills which significantly affect how abortion is treated under ACT law. The three bills the are :-
· The Crimes (Abolition of Offence of Abortion) Amendment Bill 2001 which removes the crime of abortion in the Territory;
· The Health Regulation (Maternal Health Information) Repeal Bill 2001 which repeals the Osborne legislation which sought to restrict women’s right to choose; and
· The Medical Practitioners (Maternal Health) Amendment Bill 2002 which provides protection for women and health workers in relation to abortion.
The first two bills were introduced by ACT Legislative Assembly Speaker and long-time pro-choice campaigner Wayne Berry. Mr Berry announced before the ACT election last year that he would move to decriminalise abortion in the ACT and to repeal the Osborne legislation. He introduced his bills in the first sitting week of the new Assembly in December.
Under the ACT’s Crimes Act 1900 the penalty for abortion was ten years gaol for a woman who sought or medical practitioner who provided an abortion. Mr Berry’s bills remove abortion as a crime under the Crimes Act 1900.
The Osborne legislation introduced in haste in 1998 was a controversial piece of legislation which generated community outrage and led to a community campaign against it. It’s stated aim was to restrict abortions in the ACT and it enabled the requirement for women seeking an abortion to view pictures of foetuses.
Welcoming the support of the Assembly for his bills, Mr Berry said, “I am relieved that women considering an abortion will no longer have the threat of a ten year gaol sentence hanging over their head.
“I thank my fellow MLA’s for their support for my bills. Abortion should not be a crime and today’s vote endorses that.
“This has been a long campaign but throughout I have always enjoyed community support and have worked in the knowledge that fair minded people in the community believe that it was the right thing to do.
“I congratulate ‘Options for Women’ who have campaigned since my bills were introduced. They have worked hard to increase community awareness of the issue and to encourage people who supported my bills to make their views known to Assembly members – over 2500 people did this.
“The repeal of the Osborne bill will be welcomed by the thousands in the community who rallied against the bill and its objectives to make abortion difficult for women and to try to make those facing the difficult decision feel guilty.
“Katy Gallagher’s amendments to the Medical Practitioner’s Act 1930 will enhance the act and provide extra protection for women and health workers.
“After ten years of campaigning for change it is a relief to at last succeed but another campaign of vigilance to protect these gains has just begun,” Mr Berry concluded.