New abortion laws considered

New abortion laws considered	29.05.2008
THE Victorian Government has been given three options to modernise abortion laws in the state. All of them will decriminalise abortion, which is now performed in Victoria under a common law ruling which says it is only legal if it protects the health of the woman. The Victorian Law Reform Commission, at the request of the state government last year, has delivered a report examining ways to move abortion from the crimes act and make it legal for women and their doctors under certain circumstances. The first option will give an individual doctor the authority to determine whether an abortion was necessary because pregnancy posed a risk to the woman. The second gives the woman herself the authority to make that determination, for an abortion up to 24 weeks gestation. The third would give women the power to choose an abortion at any stage of her pregnancy. The commission`s chairman Neil Rees said the options reflected a range of concerns put to the commission in submissions. "The major differences between the three options, or models, are the identity of the final decision maker and the circumstances in which an abortion is lawful," he said. The commission received more than 500 submissions, about 80 per cent from anti-abortionists, he said. However, Professor Rees said the commission`s research showed that did not accurately represent the Victorian community, of which 10 per cent strongly oppose abortion. The government will hold briefings and discussions on the options over the next few weeks and regardless of which option is eventually put to parliament in a bill later this year, MPs will have a conscience vote. State Attorney-General Rob Hulls said the change in law was not aimed at increasing or decreasing the number of abortions in the state, but at simply bringing the law in line with existing clinical practice. Victorian Premier John Brumby supports decriminalising abortion but would not say which option he preferred. However, he said the debate was likely to centre around the first two options. "I think it`s appropriate to discuss that with caucus colleagues, to get the feedback from caucus about those options," he said. "I think you will see the debate centre more around options A and B, that`s not to say that some people won`t support option C. "We`ll have a discussion in caucus over the coming months and then we`ll introduce the bill in the second half of the year." Share this article Digg this Post to del.icio.us Post to Newsvine Post to Facebook Add to kwoff
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	08. 2008

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