By Jolene Ogle
PRO-CHOICE supporters gathered in Noosa on Monday night 5 September to urge residents to call on their local member to make abortion legal in Queensland.
The public meeting was an information session for anyone interested in the two Bills presented to state Parliament by Cairns MP Rob Pyne that aim to remove abortion from the criminal code by deleting three sections of the current legislation.
Sections 224, 225 and 226 mean that doctors performing abortions could face up to 14 years jail, women who seek a termination could face up to 7 years jail and anyone who supports them faces up to 3 years jail.
Mr Pyne’s private member’s Bill, the Abortion Law Reform (Woman’s Right to Choose) Amendment Bill 2016, was presented to a bi-partisan committee who handed down their recommendation on 26 August to not support the Bill.
Committee chair Nudgee MP Leanne Linard said the committee was unable to support the bill as it “failed to address a number of important policy issues and to achieve a number of its own stated objectives”.
Noosa MP Glen Elmes said Mr Pyne’s bill was the “shortest, laziest piece of legislation” he had ever seen claiming Mr Pyne put the Bill to a committee hoping they would “do all the hard work”.
While the committee were considering the first Bill, holding public forums and receiving over 1400 submissions, Mr Pyne presented a second amendment Bill that hopes to address some of the original Bill’s deficiencies.
A recommendation is yet to be handed down on the second Bill, but pro-choice group Pro-Choice Queensland and the Australian Sex Party wanted to gain support for their campaign to legalise abortion in Queensland by holding public meetings throughout the region.
Guest speaker at the Noosa event was Pamela Doherty of Pro-Choice Queensland who slammed the current laws as being outdated and unfair to women, saying the original laws from 1899 were introduced before women could vote.
“It’s time for change” she said.
Ms Doherty said it was time to remove the shame associated with abortion and remove the procedure from the criminal code.
Ms Doherty called on residents to lobby their local member to support the Bills and push for abortion to be legalised in Queensland, but the committee’s recommendation to not support the Bill means it is highly unlikely state MPs will even vote on the first Bill and it is not yet known if the second Bill will be presented for a vote.
Mr Elmes said if there was a vote in regards to decriminalising abortion, his party would allow a conscience vote and he would vote to his conscience.
He said over the years the rate of abortions in Queensland had fallen, thanks to better sex education in schools and the availability of contraception.
Mr Elmes said he understood there were circumstances such as sexual assault that led to a woman needing an abortion but it shouldn’t be a “free for all” and should be “safe, legal and rare”.
With only five weeks left of Parliament for 2016, it is unlikely the second Bill, if recommended by the committee, will come to a vote this year. To read either of the Bills or the committee’s report on the first Bill, visit Parliament’s website and search for tabled papers.
