Australia’s Northern Territory Parliament has passed a law which decriminalises abortion and introduces buffer zones around abortion clinics. Following a full day of passionate debate, the bill passed by a vote of 20 to 4, to the delight of its supporters in the public gallery. The law will come into force in July. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed this legislation and hopes that its successful passage can inspire campaigners for decriminalisation across the UK.
The reforms decriminalise termination by removing legislation making it illegal to provide an abortion or supply a woman with abortion drugs. This leaves Queensland and New South Wales as the only Australian jurisdictions where certain forms of abortion remain a criminal offence. Abortion is also already decriminalised in several other countries, such as Canada. Safe access zones around abortion clinics have also been mandated, meaning that it will now be an offence to harass anyone entering or leaving.
The law also introduces a number of other measures. It allows, for example, for the provision of abortions in non-hospital clinical facilities, when pregnancy has only endured nine weeks. As the law applies to ‘a woman of any age’, it is thought that adolescents no longer need the support of both parents. However, the law has drawn criticism for not going far enough. The Human Rights Law Centre has, for instance, complained that the legislation falls short of endowing women with full autonomy. It does still require the approval of one doctor for abortions up to 14 weeks and has not touched the original mandate that the sanction of two is necessary if termination falls between 14 and 23 weeks.
These Australian reforms come hot on the heels of significant parliamentary developments in the UK. Members of the House of Commons recently voted in favour of a private member’s bill to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. This bill will now be subjected to further rounds of parliamentary debate.
BHA Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson commented, ‘There is no doubt that this is a historic day for the Northern Territory of Australia. The new legislation represents a huge step in the right direction. Above all, this international progress should represent a source of encouragement for campaigners driving for a full decriminalisation of UK-based terminations. We should all note, after all, that these Australian successes are the outcome of a years-long, hard-fought public campaign in the Northern Territory.
‘We at the BHA will continue to work with our partners to see abortion taken out of the criminal law in the UK. The legal framework surrounding abortion is, especially in Northern Ireland, completely incompatible with the humanist belief that each individual should have dominion over his or her own self. Studies show that it also runs completely against the grain of wider public opinion. Recent events in the Northern Territory reveal that continued perseverance on this matter will surely bear fruit.’
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For further comment or information please contact BHA Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson on richy@humanists.uk or 020 7324 3072.
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns around abortion: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/public-ethical-issues/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.
The BHA is a member of the steering group of Voice for Choice, the national pro-choice coalition, and a supporter of the We Trust Women and Back Off campaigns. Northern Ireland Humanists, which is a part of the BHA, is also on the steering group of Trust Women NI, the campaign coalition seeking abortion law reform in Northern Ireland.