Abortion : Is It Time For Clarify Australia 's Confusing Laws?

There are four Sections’ from the Criminal Code 1899 that are used throughout the process for abortion in Queensland. Criminal Code 1899 – Section 224 is “Any person who, with intent to procure the Criminal Code 1899 – Section 225 is “Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, whether she is or is not with

That being said, there are many laws governing the legality of this issue. While in as much as 30 countries, abortion is legalized, remaining countries have partial restrictions or complete ban on abortion, unless life of the mother is at stake. You would be surprised to know that abortion caused due to rape and other health complications account to nearly 7%, while the remaining cases of abortion are primarily a result of personal and social issues.

A quick history of abortion pills and how they came to be comes from WebMD. The top drug used for abortions is mifepristone also known as RU-486. Testing of the drug began in 1983 when the FDA issued a permit. Jan. 1993 President Clinton asked for the FDA to reconsider their import ban. In 1994-1995 the Population Council the U.S. patent rights for mifepristone, and clinical trials began. In September 1996 the FDA issued an approval for RU-486 to be used as a safe alternative to surgical abortion, but they also said, they wanted more information on how the drug was manufactured and labeled before they could make their final decision. On September 28, 2000 the FDA approved RU-486 as a method for early medical abortion.

Despite this attempt, legal abortion access for Canadian women, especially for those who are in rural or remote communities, remains difficult due to the many different barriers, such as not enough of abortionists, unknowledgeable hospital staff, far distance, and high costs. In fact, only 15% of the country’s accredited hospitals had decided to provide the abortion services; in the province of Prince Edward Island, not even a single approved hospital offers the abortion service. Furthermore, anyone who lives in the north has to travel far distance in order to get surgery because most of the hospitals which offer abortion services are usually located within 150km from the US border. Hence, it is very costly and time consuming to travel for the ones who do not live in the city.

In Western Australia their are many women that do self abortion recent years in Australia people have observed pro-choice badges and T-shirts displaying the symbol of a coat-hanger in a circle with a slash through it. It has not been clearly said that midwives have played a significant role on abortion and is has been know that they go to the woman’s house and performed abortion. There are also know for the women abortion them self’s in their own house. For example, based on the findings of an oral history project about illegal abortion in South Australia, abortion may have lasted longer in SA than in the eastern states, because there was never more than one or two SA doctors who provided a significant abortion service in South Australia

Abortion is the only medical procedure that is contained in the Queensland Criminal Code. The current Queensland law on abortion dates back to 1899. Since then community attitudes, safe medical practice and women’s status in Australian society have been transformed. Criminal law is an inappropriate vehicle to regulate the provision of medical treatment. Current abortion laws create barriers to doctors providing quality reproductive health care for women and restrict women’s capacity to make decisions about their own reproductive health and fertility.

According to the Australian Government, abortion is “the termination (end) of a pregnancy” (2015). In Australia, each state and territory have different laws regarding abortion. In Queensland, under sections 224, 225 and 226 of legislation, abortion is illegal under the criminal code, however; it may be regarded as lawful if performed to prevent serious danger to the woman’s physical or mental health (does not include economic or social pressure) (CCAI, 2015). 65% of Australians are strongly opposed to abortion (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013) on the basis that it is murder. Tere is much divergence of opinion surrounding the issue. Reproductive Choice Australia supports women’s choice of abortion as a “right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right… to make decisions concerning reproduction” (RCA, 2015). This means that women should be and are able to make decisions surrounding their own body and needs. Additionally, they state that abortion is not murder as “"personhood" is an epiphenomenon of the human brain... it should be clear that if there is no fully functional brain, and then there is no personhood” (RCA, 2015). Implying that abortion cannot be viewed as murder because the foetus has no operative brain. Abortion is a debated topic throughout Australia and there is much divergence of opinion surrounding the

Cica, N, _Abortion Law in Australia_,
Law and Bills Digest Group, 
31 August 1998 http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/1998-99/99rp01.htm viewed on 16/04/10.

Abortion in Queensland is the only medical procedure that is still considered a criminal offence in the Criminal Code Act 1999 (Qld). Since the abortion laws were introduced societies attitudes, safe medical practices and women’s status in Australian society have changed. As a result the current laws do not reflect modern day’s society’s view and does not effectively protect stakeholder’s rights. Abortion should be decriminalised and made legal up to 17 weeks. However abortion past 17 weeks can only be permitted if the mother is at risk. Sexual education should also be increased in high schools to promote safe sex and conception. This will ensure that women rights are effectively protect and the law better reflects society’s attitudes.

The action of receiving an abortion is heavily condemned within the Catholic Faith. Its believed that from conception to natural death all life is sacred and the deliberate killing of an unborn human is morally wrong. Within contemporary Australian society, this belief validity, as many states begin to pass legislation allowing women to legally to obtain an abortion.

Although experiences are subjective, women that have later abortions tend to feel more pain and distress following the procedure and so early abortion on a personal level, is preferred (British Pregnancy Advisory Service 2010). Delays caused by the complexity of regulation can therefore, not only intensify unpleasantness but intensify health risks. The law fails to recognise the responsibility of the role of nurses in abortion practise today. It needs to be updated so that nurses can continue to lead the abortion process but without obtaining the signature of two doctors. Training programmes should be offered to nurses to qualify them in independently carrying out abortions at all gestation stages. These reforms would avoid time wasting. More time would enable more available appointments for termination. Ultimately, it would break the barrier of accessing abortion at an early stage (Furedi 2008).

In general, the females require abortion in certain cases of unwanted pregnancy like relationship issue, unplanned pregnancy or failure of contraception methods. Abortion can be required

Although many women around the world are unable to obtain legal abortions when they need them,

Why does abortion remain technically illegal in NSW and QLD? Providing a safe and legal option for women to terminate unwanted pregnancies is supported by 80% of our populace.

* 15,863 abortions were performed in New Zealand, the lowest number since 1999 (15,501). * The general abortion rate was 17.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, down from 18.1 per 1,000 in 2010. * Women aged 20–24 years had the highest abortion rate (33 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 years). * The median age of women having an abortion was 25 years. * Most abortions (62 percent) were a woman's first