Call to remove abortion from Crimes Act . A major welfare group has called on the NSW government to decriminalise abortion to ensure women and doctors can't be prosecuted.
Alison Peter, director of the NSW Council of Social Service, is urging the state to follow the lead of the ACT and Victoria and remove abortion from the Crimes Act.
The Act states that anyone who unlawfully commits an act with the intention of procuring a miscarriage is liable to 10 years imprisonment.
Advertisement: Story continues below
"Abortion continues to be a crime under the NSW Crimes Act and women who undergo an abortion and their doctors are potentially at risk of prosecution," Ms Peter said in a statement on Friday.
The last time a doctor in NSW was convicted for carrying out an illegal abortion was in 2006.
Ms Peters countered claims that legalising abortion would increase the number of medical procedures carried out.
"There is no evidence to support this," she said.
"For six months prior to and after the removal of abortion from the Victorian Crimes Act, the number of abortions claimed under Medicare in Victoria and Tasmania increased by less than one per cent."
The NSW Greens have been campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion this year, citing a poll which found broad support for such a move.
Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the poll indicated a clear majority of Australians believe abortion should be lawful without question in a woman's first trimester, or lawful depending on her circumstances in the second trimester.
Earlier this year, the NSW government said the existing legislation allowed for legal abortion under certain circumstances, and adequately protected women and health professionals By:.-news.smh.com.au-
No comments:
Post a Comment