With abortion set to be decriminalised in Victoria before the end of the year, there are renewed opportunities for abortion rights supporters to retake ground that has been lost since the height of the abortion rights movement in the 1980s, when it won gains including court decisions in Queensland, Victoria and NSW that liberalised the interpretation of anti-abortion laws, enabling women to legally access abortion.

By Kim Bullimore

On October 7, the upper house of the Victorian state parliament will vote on the Victorian Abortion Reform Bill, which was passed in the lower house on September 11 by 48 votes to 35. The bill, which was moved on behalf of the state Labor government by women’s affairs minister Maxine Morand, is based on a Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) report recommending the removal of abortion from the Victorian Crimes Act.

By Kathy Newnam

A protest campaign has been launched in Brisbane against the charges bought against a young couple in Cairns under the anti-abortion provisions in the Queensland Criminal Code. The campaign was launched on May 9 when 80 people protested against an anti-abortion demonstration, blocking the anti-abortionists’ way to the state parliament building. The campaign, organised by the Pro-Choice Action Collective, is demanding an immediate dropping of the charges and the repeal of all anti-abortion laws.

Early in April, a Cairns couple was charged under the anti-abortion provisions in the Queensland criminal code. A 19-year-old woman faces seven years imprisonment for allegedly illegally terminating a pregnancy while her 21-year-old partner faces three years imprisonment for providing the abortion drug allegedly used for the termination. These charges are bought under laws that should not even exist. Premier Anna Bligh has told the media that the charges are related to the importation of the abortion drug, but if this were the case, why have the couple been charged under the anti-abortion laws? Bligh can’t speak the truth because these charges are indefensible. Abortion should not be a crime.

Join the campaign! Drop the charges! Repeal all anti-abortion laws!
Contact the Pro Choice Action Collective, Brisbane at prochoiceaction@gmail.com, or phone 0400 720 757 (Kathy).