‘As professors Douglas and de Costa have pointed out, Queensland’s criminal legislation remains little changed from its 1899 wording, which was borrowed from an 1861 British Act.
‘For doctors, the formal law states: ‘Any person who, with intent to procure [a miscarriage] unlawfully administers … any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind … is guilty of a crime.’ Maximum sentence, 14 years.
‘The very next section is titled “the like by women with child”. It sets a seven-year maximum for the pregnant woman. Later on, we find a defence for medical treatment that is reasonably necessary ‘to preserve the mother’s life’.
‘In a secular society, these laws sound antiquated at best, grossly illiberal at worst. But there they have lain, in black and white in our criminal code, for over a century. Why have parliaments been loathe to debate, let alone act?’
- Abortion reform: Why has Parliament dragged the chain? »
- Abortion laws in Queensland provoke passionate debate »
- Where Australian states are up to in decriminalising abortion »
- As the High Court challenge to abortion clinic ‘safe access zones’ begins, there is much at stake »
- It’s time to lift the restrictions on medical abortion in Australia »
- After 119 years, NSW is set to decriminalise abortion. Why has reform taken so long? »
- How the US right-to-life movement is influencing the abortion debate in Australia »
- Women may find it tougher to get an abortion if the religious discrimination bill becomes law »
- Early medical abortion is legal across Australia but rural women often don’t have access to it »
- Getting an abortion just got harder, thanks to the coronavirus. Here’s what we can do better »
- Abortion is no longer a crime in Australia. But legal hurdles to access remain »
- The end of Roe v. Wade would likely embolden global anti-abortion activists and politicians »
- We’re putting gender at the heart of the Fair Work Act, but there’s still no compassionate leave for abortions »
- Australian women’s access to abortion is a postcode lottery. Here’s what needs to change
- ‘I was shocked’: Catholic-run public hospitals refuse to provide birth control and abortion
- Labor’s refusal to tie public hospital funding to full reproductive care condemned as ‘outrageous’