Until recently, the legal status of abortion in Western Australia was apparently the same as in Queensland. As in Queensland, the Western Australian Penal Code did not contain a definition of illegality for the purposes of the provisions of the Penal Code that criminalized illegal abortion: sections 199 to 201. However, the Penal Code of Western Australia contained a provision formulated almost identically to section 282 of the Queensland Penal Code. This provision – section 259 of the Western Australian Penal Code – allowed anyone to perform surgery for the « benefit » of the patient or « on an unborn child to preserve the life of the mother » if the performance of the operation was « appropriate having regard to the patient`s condition at the time and all the circumstances of the case », and provided that the procedure was carried out in good faith and with reasonable care and expertise. Dr. Tania Penovic, head of a research group on gender and sexuality at Monash University`s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, said doctors in a rural town, for example, may also depend on working in a Catholic hospital and fear being blacklisted if they offer abortions or help them. To obtain abortions. Since colonization, abortion in Australia has always been governed by state (formerly colonial) law. [3] By the end of the 19th century, each colony had passed the Imperial Offences Against the Person Act of 1861, which in turn was derived from the English laws of 1837, 1828 and 1803, which made abortion illegal in all circumstances. Since then, abortion law has evolved in every state thanks to case law and legislative changes. You can have an abortion by a doctor until the 14th week of pregnancy. Between 14 and 23 weeks, a second doctor must also approve the abortion. After 23 weeks, you can only have an abortion if your life is in danger.
« This is a great day, and it is important for women and providers in South Australia that abortion is treated more like other health care, » said Brigid Coombe, co-organiser of the South Australian Abortion Action Coalition. Finally, it is important to note that Australian courts no longer automatically follow interpretations of criminal law (or any other type of law) given by courts in England. This is the case even in uncoded jurisdictions, where criminal laws are more directly derived and similar to English law and common law offences. Relevant decisions in English will certainly be convincing. However, there are significant differences between the Australian and English courts` approaches to key aspects of criminal law. (8) In his speech to the jury in this case, Levine DCJ of the District Court of New South Wales accepted the earlier Menhennitt judgment, but subsequently expanded and liberalised it. He did so by stating that a physician could consider the impact of economic and social factors on the health of the pregnant woman when assessing whether a proposed abortion would be « necessary » and « proportionate » in the circumstances. Mcnaghten J.`s instruction is also a striking confirmation of the legal view that the defence of necessity applies not only to the common law, but even to legal crimes. It is true that the management followed to some extent the analogy of the Law on the Annihilation of the Child, which contains an explicit exception for the preservation of the mother`s life; But the exception in one statute was not in itself a reason to read a similar exception in another. The only legal principle on which the exception could be based was the exception of necessity. The defence of necessity involves a choice of values and a choice of evils, and the judge`s decision is clear from his statement that « the unborn child in the womb must not be destroyed unless the destruction of that child serves to preserve the mother`s even more precious life. » Apparently, the mother`s interest in living one more day is preferred to the child`s life.
(24) The legislative statement of Justice Menhennitt in R v. Davidson continues to represent the legal situation in the Victoria case. Since that case, there has been no judicial review in Victoria of the meaning of illegal abortion. However, there were four occasions when such a review was likely or possible. If an abortion is performed illegally, the woman is no longer subject to legal sanctions, even in Western Australia. If an abortion is performed illegally by a doctor, he or she will now face a $50,000 fine instead of jail time. If an abortion is performed illegally by a person other than a doctor, the penalty is up to five years` imprisonment. Abortion in Australia is legal. It has been fully decriminalised in all jurisdictions, starting with Western Australia in 1998 and finally South Australia in 2022. Access to abortion varies from state to state and territory: surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, but without limiting the length of pregnancy in the Australian Capital Territory.
Subsequent abortions usually require the approval of two doctors, but are severely limited in Western Australia after 20 weeks. The heaviest punishment is imposed on abortion advocates who are not doctors. They shall be punished by five years` imprisonment, unless their conduct falls within the scope of the provisions of the new article 259 of the Criminal Code. This section replaces the defence of the former Article 259 discussed above. It is identical to this old section, except that it now refers to « surgical or medical treatment » and not just « surgical treatment », presumably so that legal abortions can include those performed with abortive drugs if ever these methods are approved for general use in Australia. It`s still a « zip code lottery » that determines the access women will get, she said, and those with temporary visas don`t have access to Medicare. Most private insurers have a one-year waiting period before offering abortions, and even then, not all do. There are no laws specifically related to abortion in the ACT Crimes Act, but abortion must be performed in a « medical facility » approved by the Minister of Health. Otherwise, tablets for medical abortion should be taken in New South Wales. In New South Wales, abortion is generally considered legal when performed to prevent a violation of a woman`s mental and physical health, which includes economic and social factors. It is estimated that about 1 in 5 women (20%) in Australia will have an abortion in their lifetime. — Family Planning Alliance, 2018 International rates range from about 7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 per year in Germany to 90 in Eastern Europe, with a global average of 35.
These rates are more likely to reflect each country`s attitude towards comprehensive sexuality education and effective contraception than the sexual behaviour of people living there. Abortion is legal before the 20th week of pregnancy if the doctor believes the woman would suffer serious personal, family or social consequences, or otherwise if informed consent is given. Informed consent is defined in AO legislation as the question of whether a doctor who does not perform abortion has advised or offered the woman the medical risk of continuing the pregnancy before and after an abortion.