Sixty groups fighting to overturn NSW's archaic abortion laws
By Esther Han
May 2, 2019 — 12.01am
Sixty health, legal and social justice organisations have banded together to campaign for the decriminalisation of abortion in NSW in the most concerted effort to date.
Buoyed by the historic abortion law reforms in Queensland last year, the Women's Electoral Lobby has formed the NSW Pro-Choice Alliance in a bid to overturn archaic abortion laws.
Sinead Canning (left), campaign manager at NSW Pro-Choice Alliance and (right) Dr Deborah Bateson, medical director at Family Planning NSW. Credit:Wolter Peeters
"We need to take abortion out of the Crimes Act and update these laws that are 119-years-old," campaign manager Sinead Canning said.
"We are the only state or territory that has never updated or modernised its abortion legislation."
The alliance brings together 60 groups, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), NSW Nurses and Midwives Association and Domestic Violence NSW.
Pro-choice protesters in Brisbane last year. Credit:AAP
On Thursday it will launch its campaign to remove abortion from the NSW Crimes Act 1900 and to see the introduction of laws that would ensure it is regulated like any other health procedure, such as Queensland's Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018.
The lobby has enlisted Ms Canning, who spearheaded efforts in Queensland and is feeling "inspired" and energised by the recent success.
"One of the things I learnt is that you can never judge a politician by the stripes they wear in Parliament and the most important thing to convince them is to sit down and talk with them face to face," she said.
The last decriminalisation attempt, led by former NSW Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi, failed on the floor of the upper house in 2017 amid concerns from some MPs over the bill's drafting.
Ms Canning said the alliance will work with all politicians and parties who support its aims.
"We know [independent MP] Alex Greenwich has indicated that he wants to put forth a bill this term of Parliament," she said. "Our role is to make sure any bill that comes forward will be one that can be successful."
Last June, NSW passed laws to impose safe access zones around clinics and hospitals that provide terminations and stop protesters harassing women.
During the March election, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she remained "open-minded" about the issue.
Family Planning NSW's medical director Deborah Bateson said women should be able to access services without fear of prosecution.
"It acts as a deterrent, the laws maintains fear, shame and stigma and it puts up those barriers when this is a decision a woman is making about her own body," she said.
RANZCOG representative Kirsten Black said the status quo impacted the provision of services to patients and training for registrars.
"Hopefully, if the laws change, public hospital access will be opened up," she said.
Human Rights Law Centre's senior lawyer Adrianne Walters said the law discriminates against women and treats them as second class citizens.
"We need laws that make clear a woman has the right to decide what is right for her body and for her life," she said.
NSW Right to Life's Dr Simon McCaffrey said decriminalisation would "disconnect the complete harmony and love which exists between a woman and her unborn child" and this bond should be protected.
The Australian Medical Association is not part of the alliance because it prefers to do its own advocacy, but says it wants the laws to be reviewed by the Law Reform Commission.
The abortion provisions in the Crimes Act are rarely used, though in 2017 a woman was prosecuted for self-administering an abortion drug and in 2006 a doctor was prosecuted for the first illegal abortion in 25 years.
State Parliament
Esther Han
Esther Han is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald. She has covered state politics, health and consumer affairs.
Most Viewed in Politics