Abortion legalised by pair's acquittal

THE doctor who was instrumental in introducing the abortion pill to Australia has broken ranks with her colleagues.

THE doctor who was instrumental in introducing the abortion pill to Australia has broken ranks with her colleagues.

She warns that its use has effectively been decriminalised in the hold-out state of Queensland.

Obstetrician Caroline de Costa said yesterday she had independent legal advice that the acquittal of a Cairns couple last week on abortion-related criminal charges had set a precedent that effectively decriminalised the use of RU486 by doctors.

Her assertion is based on reviews by a retired judge and a senior barrister of the jury finding that cleared 21-year-old Tegan Leach and her boyfriend of procuring a drug-induced abortion for the young woman.

Professor de Costa said the precedent set by the acquittal strengthened the limited defence in the Queensland criminal code for doctors to perform abortions to preserve the life of the mother.

"We believe that section 282 of the criminal code, which restricts abortion to cases in which the woman's life or physical or mental health is threatened by continuing pregnancy, is therefore no longer relevant for a Queensland medical practitioner performing a medical abortion using those drugs, since a crime is not committed," Professor de Costa said in a joint statement with fellow medical practitioner Michael Carrette, with whom she set up the first service in Australia to use RU486.

"The decision in this case has in fact decriminalised the use

by doctors of mifepristone (RU486) and misoprostol for the purpose of medical abortion in Queensland."

Professor de Costa said the criminal sanctions apparently remained on surgical abortions in Queensland.

In the landmark abortion case last week, Ms Leach was charged under section 225 of the criminal code, which provides up to seven years' jail for a woman who procures her own miscarriage.

Mr Brennan, 22, was charged under section 224 for providing drugs to procure an abortion.

Both had pleaded not guilty before being acquitted in Cairns District Court last Thursday.

If Professor de Costa's advice is right, it will close one of the most bitter chapters in the abortion debate in Australia and relieve pressure on Queensland Premier Anna Bligh to decriminalise abortion.