SHAME, frustration, anxiety — these are some of the emotions South Australian women say they feel because of a 50-year-old state law still classifying abortion a crime.

Women, including “Janine” who terminated a pregnancy last month, spoke of their anger over SA’s legal framework — one of two in the nation still tied to the criminal code of 19th century Britain, largely written by male politicians.

“The idea that women choosing to terminate because they are irresponsible is patronising, unfair and completely untrue,” says “Janine” (not her real name).

Janine is a 39-year-old Adelaide Hills mother of four who thought she was entering early menopause when her GP advised her to stop taking the Pill.

She and her partner were trying new contraception when a missed period seemed symptomatic of “the change”.

“I think it’s important that the stereotype around (abortion) is removed because it’s not just promiscuous teens needing an abortion — it’s not that at all,” she says.

Janine, like all of the women involved in abortion who spoke with the Sunday Mail, did not want to be identified.

Most feared the negative stereotypes and stigma attached to abortion would adversely impact their lives and those of their families. One husband was worried anti-abortion protesters would harass him and his wife through social media.

“It is a very difficult decision that is not made lightly or on a whim,” says “Rosemary”.

“I don’t think the laws have been designed by people who are using the system.”

Later this month Upper House Greens MP Tammy Franks will speak to the South Australian Legislative Council on her proposed Bill to decriminalise abortion in SA.

Abortion in this state remains illegal under the 1935 criminal code and can attract a penalty of life imprisonment — although no known modern case has tested this law.

In 1969, amendments to the law made abortion legal when carried out by a qualified medical practitioner and performed in a prescribed hospital.

It must also be approved by two qualified medical practitioners who agree after examination that a woman’s physical and/or mental health is endangered by the pregnancy, or for reasons of serious foetal abnormality.

Although the legal upper limit for abortion is 28 weeks’ gestation, interpretation of the law today means abortion occurs no later than 24 weeks, unless in a case of serious foetal abnormality or the mother’s health is seriously at risk.

Medical practitioners can elect not to perform an abortion and a pregnant woman must have been a resident in SA for at least two months to access abortion services.

Ms Franks’ Bill follows the ACT model where abortion is regulated through health laws. It would remove abortion from the criminal code, remove legal gestation limits for termination and remove the two practitioner rule.

It would also ban protesters from within 150m of abortion services (mirroring laws in Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory, ACT and most recently Queensland).

“Abortion should not be in criminal law, it should covered by health law,” she says.

Ms Franks says decriminalisation would remove the stigma of abortion and eliminate restrictive, unfair and archaic barriers, giving women in SA, particularly those in the country, better access to 21st century health care which is highly regulated in SA and nationally.

“The current law served us well at first but it was a law designed to move us from the era of backyard abortions.,” she says.

“Half a century on, those well-meaning restrictions such as the prescribed hospital clause didn’t anticipate medical advances and so disallow GPs from being able to prescribe early medication abortion in the first trimester. The law itself has now become a barrier to best health care.”

Flinders University senior law lecturer Mark Rankin says it’s an “archaic law that is ludicrous.”

SA and NSW remain the sole jurisdictions in Australia with the original 19th century crime of abortion in their respective criminal codes.

In all other states and territories abortion is regulated through health laws.

The first to enact such legislation was Western Australia in 1998, followed by the ACT in 2002, and then Victoria in 2008.

More recently, Tasmania in 2013, Northern Territory in 2017 and Queensland in 2018.

“The crime of abortion was introduced in the early 19th century in the UK, and we’ve simply copied that law — a law that no longer serves any purpose,” Mr Rankin says.

“Abortion should be treated like any other medical procedure or health service, and it should not be a crime.”

Mr Rankin is a member of the SA Abortion Action Coalition (SAAAC) — a group of medical, legal, academic, and social justice advocates for improved access to abortion.

Adelaide obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Brian Peat, also an SAAAC member says the 50-year-old amendments were nation leading in 1969.

But he says they were set up to regulate and protect women from dangers that no longer exist and failed to anticipate medical advances such as the safe provision of early abortion medication, such as development of RU486 (known as the “abortion pill”) in 1987.

Dr Peat, who has worked in the abortion sector for decades, says he supports qualified GPs administering early medical abortion, giving women in regional and remote SA greater access to services in their town rather than travelling up to 700km (roundtrip) to a prescribed hospital in Adelaide.

It would also mean women visiting Adelaide from Broken Hill, Alice Springs and Mildura and overseas visitors, refugees and international students can access services in SA.

He says over-regulation creates unnecessary waiting times for women wanting to access early medical intervention that would avoid more costly surgical procedures.

The latest Pregnancy Outcome in SA report shows 4346 abortions took place in SA in 2016 and that 8.2 per cent of SA women will terminate a pregnancy in their lifetime.

Since the Bill was advanced by Ms Franks in December last year, MPs have been increasingly lobbied by those for and against decriminalisation.

Pro-life lobbyists have begun campaigning against the Bill with radio advertisements, petitions and direct appeals to politicians.

Right to Life Australia president Margaret Tighe says the Bill could lead to a rise in the number of abortions and alternatives, such as local adoption, need greater consideration before legal changes are made.

“There are many families across Australia who want to raise a child,” she says.

One MP who did not want to be identified says the Bill could compromise the health of women away from a prescribed hospital, increase the risk of abortion coercion and lead to a rise in late-term terminations.

“I have concerns about the Bill because it seems to remove a number of protections for women and also make changes where there is no evidence of a need to do so,” the MP says.

“This isn’t about pro-life versus pro-choice, because there are many people who support abortion in general, but don’t support late-term abortions.”

As parliament gears up for a contentious debate in coming months, South Australians such as “Leah” (not her real name) will be watching intently. The 38-year-old, who did not want to be identified, says abortion did not end happily for her. She terminated an early pregnancy 11 years ago and regrets the decision.

“I still have this huge sense of emotional loss,” she says. “Eleven years later and I still have days where I am grieving that child.”

Leah says her relationship ended after the termination, she suffered from anxiety and was unable to concentrate at work, eventually resigning.

Adelaide couple Emily and Jeremy have share a differing opinion.

Emily terminated a pregnancy many years before they met.

Now parents of two boys, they support laws to make abortion legal and protect and support both women and men who want to make decisions that are right for them.

“The consequences of pregnancy are very different for women than for men,” Jeremy says. “Having a child impacts women’s ability to work, earn money and be economically powerful. To have a child is, therefore, a bigger decision for women because there is more at stake.

“Women should have the legal power to terminate an unwanted pregnancy if they believe that is the best decision for their future and their security.”

THE PATIENT

“Rosemary” was still nursing her three-month-old daughter, the wounds from her C-section still tender, when she discovered she was pregnant.

“There was no way I could be pregnant,” Rosemary (not her real name) says. “I was breast feeding and not menstruating — there were no signs I was ovulating.”

The recommended time gap for pregnancy after a C-section is 12 to 18 months. She visited her GP and confirmed she was pregnant. How could this happen?

The 32-year-old Adelaide health worker agonised. She was told the C-section scar could tear, causing uterine rupture. She could haemorrhage, losing her own life and that of the baby.

“My husband and I talked a lot about our options and we felt the risks (of pregnancy and birth) were too high — our daughter needed a mother more than a sibling then and there.”

Rosemary terminated her pregnancy almost two years ago with early abortion medication RU486 at the Pregnancy Advisory Centre, in Adelaide’s western suburbs. While she was happy and firm in her decision, she says she found the process of recounting her reasons for termination time and time again to different doctors, nurses and counsellors and the two-week wait to access abortion services daunting, demoralising and depressing.

“I would have preferred to go to my GP who knows me and my situation and discuss it with her and access the treatment through her,” she says. “It would have made it a lot less emotionally traumatic.”

She has since become the mother of a baby boy who is now six-months-old.

“There are many reasons for abortion and there is no right or wrong decisions, Rosemary says.

“More South Australians need to understand why pregnancies are terminated and that women would not put themselves or their families through this trauma if they could have avoided it.”

THE DOCTOR

Doctor Michelle Emmerson is ready and willing to provide women in Adelaide with early abortion medication that has been legal in Australia for more than a decade.

But if she does, she would be breaking South Australian law.

For the past two years, the Adelaide GP has been qualified to terminate a pregnancy up to nine weeks using early abortion medication (known as RU486 or the “abortion pill”).

The drug was legalised in Australia in 2006 under great controversy.

“A number of us (GPs in South Australia) are trained but under the law we can’t provide it in our own rooms because we are not a prescribed hospital,” Dr Emmerson says.

“The state laws prevent us from providing this service even though it is a safe procedure and our clinic is close to the nearest hospital should there be complications.”

In almost all other states and territories GPs can provide early medical abortion in their clinics or telemedicine abortion in which a GP telephone consults and prescribes early abortion medication

Dr Emmerson says provision of early abortion medication by GPs in their own clinics would reduce waiting times in Adelaide, give greater access to country women and provide a more comfortable, less stigmatised and more discreet service.

“A GP can also provide a continuity of care that other services cannot.”

Early abortion medication is administered in two lots of tablets taken 48 hours apart to induce a miscarriage, causing variable pain and bleeding.

THE FACTS

■Abortions in SA (2016) — 4346, 13.2/1000 women

■More than 50 per cent involved women 20-29 years old

■99.5 per cent performed in metropolitan hospitals

■95.6 per cent due to mental health of woman

■90.2 per cent less than 14 weeks’ gestation

■8.2 per cent of SA women will terminate a pregnancy in their lifetime

SOURCE: Pregnancy Outcome in SA 2016 report (Sept 2018)

THE LAWS

South Australia: Unlawful abortion a crime. Legal up to 28 weeks when by qualified medical professional in a prescribed hospital after two legally qualified practitioners opinions that woman’s mental or physical health is at serious risk or serious foetal abnormalities.

Queensland: In 2018, Termination of Pregnancy Bill was passed decriminalising abortion. Abortion up to 22 weeks and post-22 weeks with two doctors’ approval.

Northern Territory: Abortion up to 14 weeks with one doctor’s approval; from 14 to 23 weeks with approval from two doctors. Not legal after 23 weeks unless to save pregnant woman’s life.

Tasmania: Decriminalised abortion in 2013. Abortions up to 16 weeks, and beyond that with agreement of two doctors when pregnancy risks health of mother.

Victoria: Abortion to 24 weeks by a qualified medical practitioner, nurse or pharmacist and after 24 weeks by a second medical practitioner.

ACT: Under 2002 law, only registered medical practitioners can perform abortions in an approved medical facility.

WA: Abortions up to 20 weeks with restrictions. After 20 weeks, two medical practitioners must agree the mother or unborn baby has a severe medical condition.

NSW: Unlawful abortion a crime. Legal if performed by a qualified medical practitioner if woman’s health is in serious danger. Abortion after 20 weeks with advice from a multidisciplinary team.