2008/21: Should the Victorian Government remove abortion from the Crimes Act?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: The abortion debate often contains references to the "Roe versus Wade" case. This was a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States of America. This short film from the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) tells the basic story behind the famous legal precedent. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because YouTube is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows YouTube clips.What they said...
'We will have a situation in this country when in one part of a hospital babies will be in humidicribs being kept alive and in some other part it will be legal to be aborting them'
Peter Costello, former deputy leader of the Liberal Party and former federal treasurer
'Women have the intellectual and moral capacity to make decisions about their own fertility'
Julian Burnside, QC, President of Liberty Victoria
The issue at a glance
On September 10, 2008, a bill titled the Abortion Law Reform Bill, was passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Victorian Parliament.
The state's lower house voted to approve the second reading of a bill to provide unrestricted access to abortions up to 24 weeks' gestation and to remove unlawful abortion from the Crimes Act.
Opponents of the Bill attempted unsuccessfully to attach a series of amendments to require, among other things, mandatory counselling and opt-out provisions for health workers who oppose abortion.
The Bill was put to a conscience vote. Forty-seven members of parliament voted in favour of the bill and thirty-five against. The ballot in the upper house (the Legislative Council) is expected to be significantly closer.
The Bill has sparked significant debate in the community on the issue of abortion and how it should be accessed.