Cool-Off Wait for Abortion
CLAIRE HARVEY, The Australian, 26 November 1998
WOMEN seeking abortions will have to wait out a 72-hour cooling-off period under tight new abortion restrictions which were passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly last night.
Chief Minister Kate Carnell used her casting vote to pass the Bill, which pro-choice forces last night slammed as a "scandal", warning it was the first step towards outlawing abortion.
Opposition whip Simon Corbell criticised as "discriminatory and patronising" compulsory information sessions for women seeking abortions - where they are shown pictures or drawings of the developing foetus from conception.
Right to Life Australia chairwoman Margaret Tighe said she was "reservedly pleased, but I realise that it’s a very small step and we have a very long way to go".
"Some babies will live and their mothers will be thankful - this legislation is forcing people to be reminded of what is involved in an abortion," she said.
The ACT’s family planning clinic, where up to 2,000 abortions are performed each year, was under "severe threat", Mr Corbell said, adding that the Bills references to the Crimes Act could lead to criminal charges against women who had abortions.
The Bill, a watered-down version of Independent MLA Paul Osborne’s original plan to outlaw all abortions except In cases of severe medical or psychological danger, passed in principle by 10 votes to seven late last night, after he informally agreed with amendments proposed by Health Minister Michael Moore.
Greens MLA Kerrie Tucker said Mr Osborne was seeking to Impose his own religious and moral convictions on women, adding that women’s voices had not been heard in the male-dominated Assembly.
ACT Attorney-General Gary Humphries denied the Bill was a "back-door ban on abortion", and it was wrong to suggest the family planning clinic would close.