Prime Minister John Howard declared on November 10 that "there will be no government-sponsored change at the federal level" to the current legal status of abortion. However, a dozen government MPs have indicated their support for, or intent to use, private members' bills to restrict women's access to abortion services.
Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne has called for a ban on terminations of pregnancies beyond 21 weeks and for the severe limiting of those beyond 12 weeks. Liberal MP Alan Cadman has proposed that there be legal changes requiring a woman seeking an abortion to obtain additional counselling that is independent of the clinic providing the service, before being able to access the procedure.
Even Governor-General Michael Jeffery has weighed in to the debate declaring on November 6 that would be "a great thing" to reduce the numbers of abortions to "zero" and that "we all have to work together to keep [abortions] to an absolute minimum".
The changes being advocated by the anti-abortion Coalition MPs range from cuts to Medicare subsidies for the procedure to the banning of late-term abortions in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory, where the federal parliament has legislative jurisdiction.
In the rest of Australia, abortion is a matter of state law. In nearly every state, abortion is illegal, except where it is carried out by a doctor to protect the life and health of the pregnant woman. In most states, judicial rulings have given doctors wide latitude in interpreting what this exception involves. Thus in NSW, abortion is legal if a doctor finds "any economic, social or medical ground or reason" that an abortion is required to avoid a "serious danger to the pregnant woman's life or to her physical or mental health" at any point during the pregnant woman's life.
The current push to mobilise support for limiting women's access to abortion services was initiated by federal health minister Tony Abbott's claim that there was an "abortion epidemic" in Australia. He said that 100,000 abortions were being performed every year.
On November 9, the Australian Medical Association disputed Abbott's figure, saying it was based on Medicare statistics that included incomplete miscarriages and terminations for health reasons. The next day, Abbott conceded that "there is some uncertainty about the figures".
According to Victorian government Betterhealth website, Australia has a lower abortion rate than the United States. The site also notes that most women who have an abortion do not suffer any psychological or emotional distress as a result. "The current legislation that requires a woman to 'convince' the doctor of her eligibility for the procedure can cause distress", the site observes, "since the final decision rests with the medical professional, and not with the woman herself."
Women's Electoral Lobby spokesperson Eva Cox has suggested that loosening, rather than tightening, abortion laws could actually slow the rate of abortions. "Availability of RU486 [which is currently illegal in Australia] and the use of medical methods rather than surgical ones would reduce the figures", Cox stated in a November 8 WEL press release.
"Ministers, the governor-general and others", Cox added, 'are manufacturing a crisis about abortion to promote their own moral views."
Federal Labor leader Mark Latham has said he supports women's current access to abortion services but has suggested that any change will only happen "'if the prime minister supports" it. This approach seems naive at best. It was a private members' bill that overturned the Northern Territory's euthanasia law in 1997.
Labor health spokesperson Julia Gillard indicated on November 8 that Labor will allow its MPs a "conscience" vote if a private members's bill to restrict abortion access was presented.
The current campaign to mobilise public opinion against women's access to abortion services is a threat to the right of women to control their own bodies and therefore their own lives. As Lisa Macdonald, national co-convener of the Socialist Alliance, points out: "Under the guise of opening a discussion, these politicians are trying to turn back the clock on women's basic human right to decide what happens to their bodies.
"Women always have and always will — for a whole variety of reasons — choose to terminate pregnancies. If Pyne and Abbott really gave a damn about women's health, they would actively oppose their government's cuts to women's services, child care and Medicare."
Macdonald stressed that as long as abortion remains on the states' criminal statutes, women will remain "vulnerable to the whims of politicians who believe they have some god-given right to decide what we should do with our bodies".
Jess Melvin
From Green Left Weekly, November 17, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.