WA lags behind on abortion access
OPINION | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Access to abortion is a matter of life and health for all people who experience pregnancy.
The evidence is clear — when access to abortion is denied by criminal laws and dangerous legal hurdles, women’s health in particular is imperilled and people die. The denial of abortion care robs too many people of control over their future.
By Adrianne Walters
Associate Legal Director
Human Rights Law Centre
Two major events occurred recently that have reinforced the pressing need for abortion law reform in Western Australia.
In the US, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that recognised abortion as a constitutional right.
The consequences of this decision cannot be overstated. Overnight tens of millions of people were stripped of the right to control their bodies.
Abortion is at risk of being severely restricted or banned in 26 states and three territories, and already, states such as Oklahoma and Alabama have begun to enforce abortion bans, and clinics have shut down.
On the day of the decision, people booked in for abortion procedures had their appointments cancelled. They no longer had the right to make this private medical decision.
Make no mistake, women, gender diverse people and trans-men in these states will continue to seek abortion care. Those who can afford it will travel to states that protect this fundamental healthcare right. They may be forced into debt and their care may be complicated by delays, but at least they will able to access safe abortion care.
For the many who can’t afford to travel and don’t know where to turn, they will be forced into unsafe options or coerced into carrying the pregnancy and giving birth. The disastrous consequences of the court’s decision will be disproportionately carried by people of colour, who are already more likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth.
Access to abortion is a matter of life and health for all people who experience pregnancy.
The evidence is clear — when access to abortion is denied by criminal laws and dangerous legal hurdles, women’s health in particular is imperilled and people die. The denial of abortion care robs too many people of control over their future.
Two major events occurred recently that have reinforced the pressing need for abortion law reform in Western Australia.
In the US, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that recognised abortion as a constitutional right.
The consequences of this decision cannot be overstated. Overnight tens of millions of people were stripped of the right to control their bodies.
Abortion is at risk of being severely restricted or banned in 26 states and three territories, and already, states such as Oklahoma and Alabama have begun to enforce abortion bans, and clinics have shut down.
On the day of the decision, people booked in for abortion procedures had their appointments cancelled. They no longer had the right to make this private medical decision.
Make no mistake, women, gender diverse people and trans-men in these states will continue to seek abortion care. Those who can afford it will travel to states that protect this fundamental healthcare right. They may be forced into debt and their care may be complicated by delays, but at least they will able to access safe abortion care.
For the many who can’t afford to travel and don’t know where to turn, they will be forced into unsafe options or coerced into carrying the pregnancy and giving birth. The disastrous consequences of the court’s decision will be disproportionately carried by people of colour, who are already more likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth.
Abortion is healthcare and it needs to be normalised as such in our laws, policies and public health system.
The situation in the US hasn’t happened overnight. Outside of the courts, anti-choice lawmakers in many states have chipped away at reproductive rights for years through laws that make it harder for clinics to provide affordable care, that force patients to jump distressing and medically unjustified hurdles, or that recognise personhood in a foetus and subordinate a pregnant person’s right to autonomy and health to the foetus.
In Australia we have seen politicians try to harness the cynical tactics of the US anti-abortion movement. For example, sensible health-focused abortion reforms in NSW were held to ransom in 2019 by a handful of anti-abortion politicians. We stopped the worst of these, but the few that succeeded make the law harder to understand.
If Roe v Wade has taught us anything, it’s that we need to remain vigilant and unyielding. This means making sure our elected representatives support abortion as essential healthcare. It means pushing for laws that respect every person’s right to make decisions about their bodies.
This brings me to the second recent development that the WA Government should take notice of — one much closer to home.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021 came into force in South Australia on Thursday. The new law removes abortion from the criminal code and supports more equitable access to abortion care across the state, including telehealth services for early medication abortion. This hard-fought reform is big a win for reproductive rights.
It also leaves WA as an outlier in Australia. In WA, abortion remains an offence in the criminal code, with a broad exception allowing access to abortion up to 20 weeks gestation. From 20 weeks, abortion is severely restricted.
The laws in WA are problematic in a number of other ways. They assume that women aren’t able to make the decision about whether to have an abortion, by requiring counselling with a second doctor in every case. The laws also allow doctors to conscientiously object to providing care, but don’t require them to ensure their patients are informed about where to get help. This is inconsistent with a doctor’s duty of care.
Abortions after 20 weeks are rare, and are typically needed in distressing circumstances, like couples who are informed of a devastating foetal condition at the 20 week scan, or women in abusive relationships who couldn’t access care earlier. WA’s strict laws are forcing people to travel interstate to access care they should be able to get in WA.
If abortion was treated like all other healthcare in law, as it is in the ACT, it would simply allow health professionals to focus on the best interests and health outcomes of their patients, rather than worrying about complying with convoluted and outdated laws.
Abortion is healthcare and it needs to be normalised as such in our laws, policies and public health system. This is how we can guarantee better health outcomes for all.
The McGowan Government passed safe access zone laws last year, ending the harassment of patients and staff outside clinics. This law was an important step, but it is not enough.
It’s time to properly decriminalise abortion and put in place best-practice laws — laws that respect the right of every person to make health decisions about themselves; prioritise the health, privacy, dignity and autonomy of patients; and enable future innovations in medical practice to be applied to abortion care to promote better health outcomes.
Mark McGowan has the opportunity to show global leadership and should aim to set the national standard at its highest, rather than being dragged into line.