The Legal and Factual Status of Abortion in Australia

Dalby Douglas , ‘Hospital Death in Ireland Renews Fight Over Abortion’, The New York Times (14 November 2012) <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/world/europe/hospital-death-in-ireland-renews-fght-over-abortion.html>.

Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 3.

Goldstone Philip Michelson Jill Williamson Eve , ‘Early Medical Abortion Using Low-Dose Mifepristone Followed by Buccal Misoprostol: A Large Australian Observational Study’ (2012) 197(5) Medical Journal of Australia 282.

Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC), Law of Abortion, Final Report (2008) 32.

Ibid 36.

Ibid 33.

Goldstone Michelson Williamson , above n 3.

de Costa Caroline , RU 486: The Abortion Pill (Boolarong Press, 2007) 90.

Cannold Leslie , ‘RU486: A Win for Women and Choice’, The Drum Opinion, 31 August 2012 <http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4236460.html>.

Peatling Stephanie , ‘Health Group Gets Green Light to Import Abortion Drug Into Australia’, The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 30 August 2012 <http://www.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=3595312>.

VLRC, above n 4, 36.

Sifris Ronli , ‘A Woman's Right to Choose: Human Rights and Abortion in Australia’ in Gerber Paula Castan Melissa (eds), Contemporary Human Rights Issues in Australia (Thomson Reuters, 2013) 251, 252.

VLRC, above n 4, 34.

Stark Jill , ‘Hospitals Clamp Down on Abortions’, The Age (Melbourne), 24 March 2013 <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hospitals-clamp-down-on-abortions-20130323-2gmvw.html>.

VLRC, above n 4, 34–35.

Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 164(7); Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 8(1); Medical Services Act 1982 (NT) s 11(6); Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 82A(5)-(6); Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334(2).

Cannold Leslie , ‘Sleeping Dragon: The Unfinished Business of Abortion Law Reform in Australia’ (Pamela Denoon Lecture, The University of Melbourne, 7 March 2011).

Stark Jill , Abortions Not Performed in Bendigo for More than a Year’, The Age (Melbourne), 17 March 2013 <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/abortions-not-performed-in-bendigo-for-more-than-a-year-20130316-2g7kq.html>.

Readers should note the current debate regarding the possible decriminalisation of abortion in Tasmania. See draft Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill 2013 (Tas).

For a discussion of abortion as a human right, see Zampas Christina Gher Jaime M , Abortion as a Human Right - International and Regional Standards’ (2008) 8 Human Rights Law Review 249. For a more in-depth discussion of restrictions on abortion as a violation of the right to health, see Sifris Ronli , ‘Restrictive Regulation of Abortion and the Right to Health’ (2010) 18 Medical Law Review 185. For more on abortion as a violation of the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, see Sifris Ronli , Reproductive Freedom, Torture and International Human Rights: Challenging the Masculinisation of Torture (Routledge, forthcoming).

See, eg, Major Brenda Gramzow Richard H , Abortion as Stigma: Cognitive and Emotional Implications of Concealment’ (1999) 77(4) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 735.

For a more in-depth discussion of the role of the criminal law in stigmatising abortion see Sifris , above n 12, 255–257.

Cannold , above n 17.

Australian Medical Association, ‘Australia Needs Consistent Uniform National Abortion Laws to Protect Women and Doctors'’ (Media Release, 15 August 2005).

It should be noted that the charges were ultimately dropped.

(2010) (unrep, Dist Ct Qld, Criminal Jurisdiction, Indictment 74 of 2010).

For a more in-depth discussion of the need for certainty and clarity in the law, see Sifris, above n 12, 258–262.

See Stark Jill , ‘Hospitals Clamp Down on Abortions’, The Age (Melbourne), 24 March 2013 <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hospitals-clamp-down-on-abortions-20130323-2gmvw.html>.

Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) ss 4–7.

Health Act 1993 (ACT) Part 6.

See Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 8; Health Act 1993 (ACT) Part 6.

See Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 8.

For an example of the strong objections expressed towards the duty to refer, see Craven Greg , ‘Denying People Right to Conscience Akin to Fascism’, The Age (Melbourne) 26 September 2008 <http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/denying-people-right-to-conscience-akin-to-fascism/2008/09/25/1222217428407.html?page=fullpage>.

The following Statutes enshrine abortion as a crime: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ss 82–84; Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) ss 224–226; Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) ss 81–82; Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA) s 199; Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) ss 134–135; Criminal Code Act 1983 (NT) ss 208B–208C.

Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334.

Victoria: Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 5; NSW: R v Wald (1971) 3 DCR (NSW) 25, 29 per Levine J approved by the NSW Court of Appeal in CES v Superclinics (Australia) Pty Ltd (1995) 38 NSWLR 47; Queensland: R v Bayliss and Cullen (1986) 9 Qld Lawyers Reps 8; SA: Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 82A; WA: Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334; Tasmania: Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 164; NT: Medical Services Act 1982 (NT) s 11.

Sheldon Sally , ‘The Law of Abortion and the Politics of Medicalisation’ in Bridgeman Jo Millns Susan (eds), Law and Body Politics (Dartmouth Publishing, 1995) 105, 119.

Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 82A(1); Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334(7); Medical Services Act 1982 (NT) s 11(1) (up to 14 weeks gestation).

See Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334(8)–(11); Medical Services Act 1982 (NT) s 11(5).

Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334(5), Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 164(9).

Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 164(7); Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 (Vic) s 8(1); Medical Services Act 1982 (NT) s 11(6); Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 82A(5)–(6); Health Act 1911 (WA) s 334(2).