by PIP HINMAN
On the same day that Tasmania decriminalised abortion, the New South Wales parliament took a big step backwards for women’s rights. The Legislative Assembly voted 63 to 26 for a bill aimed at giving 20-week-old foetuses the same legal rights as human beings.
Abortions occupy a grey legal area, although they still illegal in NSW, they can be performed if there is danger to a woman’s physical or mental health. There are fears this new law will strengthen those seeking to challenge terminations that are currently allowed.
The bill has been debated in parliament for three months and the Labor and Liberal parties allowed their MPs a conscience vote on the issue. Nine Labor MPs voted for this bill.
In the end, the bill was opposed by just 26 MPs on the basis that severe penalties already apply under the Crimes Act to those inflicting grievous bodily harm to a foetus. The Crimes Act had already been toughened in 2005 by extending the definition of grievous bodily harm to include the loss of an unborn child (Byron’s law).
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