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A new abortion law reform bill is heating debate in South Australia.
The private member’s bill wants the law reformed to refuse to terminate pregnancies after 28 weeks.
Touted by its supporters as a “world-first”, Ben Hood’s bill aims to ensure pregnancy terminations after 27 weeks and six days are achieved through the early induction of labour.
The infant would then be offered for adoption.The bill’s supporters say about 1000 people attended a rally on the steps of state parliament last Wednesday afternoon when the bill was introduced.
The bill’s aim
Hood says his proposed legislation would amend an existing 2021 state law allowed terminations in limited circumstances after 22 weeks and 6 days, subject to the approval of two doctors.
It would address an “unintended consequence” of the 2021 law, he says.
That unintended consequence meant between July 2022 and December 2023, 45 out of 57 terminations beyond the 22 week and 6 day threshold were approved for the “physical or mental health of the pregnant person”.
Not one was performed to save the life of the mother. Twelve late-term abortions were performed because of foetal anomalies.
“This bill aims to carefully balance the rights of both pregnant women and the child, particularly after 28 weeks of gestation” Hood says.
It “provides a responsible and considered compromise – protecting the child’s right to life while respecting the mother’s choice to end her pregnancy”.
University of Adelaide law professor, Joanna Howe, says the proposed law change would strike an “effective balance between the competing interests of a mother and her viable child through ensuring that foeticide is banned and the child is delivered alive”.
Hood’s bill was drafted by a team of eight women who were “legal and medical experts with specialities in neonatology and obstetrics” Howe says.
Abortion advocate and retired obstetrician Brian Peat said babies born alive at 28 weeks would represent a “great impost on the system”.
He attacked the bill, saying its true purpose was to encourage mothers to carry a child to term.
House divided
Hood’s bill divided the South Australian Liberals.
Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia says it does not reflect Liberal policy. The party has agreed to grant a conscience vote to MPs.
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