Abortion law reforms debated in SA parliament

Several MPs have called for amendments to the abortion reform Bill, as debate fires up in parliament.

Anti-abortion protesters at the Walk For Life March in the city earlier this month. Picture: Mike Burton

The State Government would have to reveal the details of every abortion at the end of each year, under proposed changes to controversial reforms being debated in parliament.

Several amendments to the Termination of Pregnancy Bill were proposed in parliament on Tuesday, as fierce debate in the Lower House is expected to continue into the evening.

Paula Luethen, Environment Minister David Speirs and outgoing MP Stephan Knoll, were among those to suggest changes to the Bill.

Under Ms Luethen’s amendments, the government would need to release annual reports that include information about every abortion performed each year.

The annual reports would need to include the age of the pregnant person and the gestational age of the foetus at the time of termination.

The Termination of Pregnancy Bill would allow for abortions beyond 22 weeks and six days’ gestation if two medical practitioners confirm “under all circumstances” it would be “medically appropriate”.

The laws would also remove abortion from the criminal code, turning it into a health issue.

Ms Luethen’s amendments would require the government to review the law four years after it begins. She also suggested medical practitioners should directly consult with the pregnant woman when determining if the procedure was “medically appropriate”.

State Labor MP Nat Cook with Federal Labor Senator Penny Wong and State Labor MP Katrine Hildyard (fourth from left) at the pro-abortion rally in Adelaide this month.

In her second reading on the Bill in parliament today, Attorney-General Vickie Chapman suggested she would support Ms Luethen’s amendments, while calling the day “historic, yet disappointing”.

“It’s with great pride that I rise to introduce the (Bill). Not because it’s easy, but because it’s a historic day for women of South Australia and their families,” Ms Chapman said.

“Yet it is also tinged with disappointment, that we are the last state in the country to decriminalise abortion …

“I find it personally disappointing that some have deliberately inflamed tensions and sought to use abortion as a political weapon,” she said.

Mr Speirs lodged a series of amendments centred on tightening provisions for late-term abortions.

Under his proposals, medical practitioners must only perform the terminations if it is “necessary to save the life of the pregnant person or save another foetus or there is a case, or significant risk, of serious foetal anomalies … that are incompatible with survival after birth”

Other MPs voiced concerns about women terminating pregnancies for gender selection purposes.

Meanwhile, Mr Knoll said the Bill should say “pregnant woman” instead of “pregnant person”.

“What we should be dealing with in legislation should be based on biological fact …”

Mr Knoll said the amendment would not prevent people who don’t identify as women being offered the procedure.

Labor MP Nat Cook said the Bill is “about compassion” and “doing what is right for people, not just women”.

“We are not having an argument about whether termination should happen. We had that debate 50 years ago and we stopped dozens of women from dying from haemorrhage, infection and backyard butchery,” she said.

“We stopped that from happening. That is over. Let’s move on to the next step.”