BY SARAH CLEARY
HOBART — Abortion services suspended in Tasmanian public hospitals in November 2001 have not yet resumed, despite a pre-Christmas emergency sitting of state parliament to resolve the crisis.
The services were withdrawn following a complaint to police by a medical student about abortions performed at the Royal Hobart Hospital. As a consequence of the ensuing police investigation, the state government withdrew indemnity covering doctors performing the procedure in public hospitals. In response, doctors in Tasmania's public hospitals stopped performing abortions, demanding legal protection before they would resume.
After the ensuing publicity, nurses also withdrew from assisting with the procedure. Women requiring an abortion have had to travel interstate for the 15-minute operation.
Labor Premier Jim Bacon called an emergency session of parliament. The sitting lasted from December 19 to 21, and passed, with amendments, a bill introduced by health minister Judy Jackson, to clarify the circumstances in which abortion is legal.
Before the bill was passed, the Tasmanian criminal code prohibited "unlawful abortion" without specifying what was or wasn't unlawful. A liberal court interpretation of Victorian state law in 1969 was understood to apply to Tasmanian law, paving the way for abortion to be performed on the grounds of the protecting a woman's mental or physical health. The 2001 complaint alleged doctors were lying about the reasons for performing abortions.
Jackson's bill retained abortion as a criminal offence for a woman undergoing the procedure, anyone performing it, or anyone assisting or providing anything to be used for abortions, unless a set of criteria are adhered to. Included in the criteria is a requirement for a written statement from two doctors certifying that the abortion would pose less risk to the woman's mental or physical health than continuing the pregnancy. A doctor must counsel the woman regarding the medical aspects of abortion or continuing the pregnancy.
As a result of amendments adopted by the lower house, the new law also mandates doctors to refer women seeking abortion for counselling regarding other aspects of pregnancy or abortion. It is unclear whether women must attend such counselling or not.
To be legal, an abortion may only be performed by a medical practitioner.
People for Choice, a group formed on December 5 to campaign for repeal of abortion-related sections of the criminal code and for women's right to choose abortion, held a rally on December 19 outside parliament.
Dr Barbara Baird, co-ordinator of the women's studies unit at the University of Tasmania, explained that women had used abortion to limit child-bearing for more than a century, whether or not it was legal. Making it illegal just altered the conditions in which it took place, she argued. Baird also said that, for many women, the decision to have an abortion was an ordinary part of life and not fraught with dilemma.
Pro-choice campaigner Leslie Cannold said the new legislation "may be better than nothing", but criticised the "patronising" way it withheld the right to decide from women, placing that right in the hands of doctors.
Socialist Alliance national executive member and pro-choice doctor Kamala Emanuel criticised the "conscience vote" for giving politicians the right to decide, while denying that right to women and setting up doctors as "gate-keepers" to abortion access.
Two-hundred people attended the pro-choice rally including some with a banner reading "Med students for women's rights". A big proportion of rally participants responded to the call to wear "purple for choice".
By contrast, anti-choice campaigners mobilised 70 people from around Tasmania on the same day, for a vigil without speakers organised by the Victorian Right to Life group.
The passage of the legislation enabled the government to appear to have solved the abortion services crisis. Nevertheless, services hadn't resumed by January 10. Public hospitals are said to be preparing their protocols for services. Royal Hobart Hospital CEO Pat Martin has previously stated she believes most abortions should be performed outside the hospitals.
The new law will give some legal security that may enable private providers to establish services. It is likely, however, that with such de-facto outsourcing, the cost to patients will rise.
With a state election tipped for early March, Socialist Alliance members are hoping to build the campaign for free, safe, legal and accessible abortion on demand by making it an election issue.
From Green Left Weekly, January 16, 2002.
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