The Pro-choice Action Collective is committed to defending women’s right to free, safe, legal, accessible abortion.

Drop the abortion charges
Repeal all anti-abortion laws!
Free, safe, accessible abortion on demand

Drop the abortion charges!

In early September, a young Cairns woman was committed to trial on charges brought under the anti-abortion laws. The charges carry a maximum penalty of seven years prison. Her partner will also face trial on charges that carry a maximum penalty of three years prison. Premier Bligh and Queensland Government ministers have repeatedly claimed that the case is related to the importation of the drug allegedly used for the abortion. They are lying. The charges have been brought under the anti-abortion laws, not drug related law.

Premier Bligh has also implied that the case is based on the safety concerns related to the abortion drug. This is another distraction. The drug is not illegal in Australia. It is very safe – the complications that can arise are similar to that of a spontaneous miscarriage. The Cairns woman had full instructions about the use of the drug and would have had access to medical facilities if complications had arisen. Furthermore, Premier Bligh would be only too aware that criminalising abortion is one of the greatest dangers to women’s health. The only way to ensure women’s safe access to abortion is to make it legal and free and have widespread woman-centered information and education services.

On September 4, the Parliament made some minor amendments to section 282 of the Queensland Criminal Code – but these changes have made no difference to women’s legal access to abortion. Abortion remains on the criminal code.

The anti-abortion laws in the QLD Criminal Code:
“Section 224. Any person who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.

“Section 225. Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.

“Section 226. Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for 3 years.”

Legal access to abortion
Abortion is legally accessible under a common law ruling in 1986 that found that there were grounds for “lawful” abortion – when a woman’s life or mental health is at risk by continuing a pregnancy. While this ruling was explicitly against “abortion on demand”, abortion has effectively been available on demand through private clinics. Some say that this accessibility has been because the police have “turned a blind eye”. The more realistic explanation is that the laws have not been enforced because police are only too aware of the widespread support for abortion access and the sort of opposition that would be faced if there were any attempts to enforce the law.

While it may have faded from popular memory, there are still many who remember the widespread social and political response to the abortion clinic raids of the 1980s. Indeed it was the opposition that was mobilised in that era that led to the liberalised access that exists today. In prosecuting the Cairns case, the Queensland Police have made a calculated political judgment. They think they can create a new precedent through this case. The Cairns couple have been targeted in a test of these laws because they are isolated. Because they don’t have the social connections and networks and resources that would be involved if the laws were tested in a case involving a doctor. This is why the grass-roots solidarity campaign is all the more important.

It is up to all supporters of women’s right to choose to raise their voices in protest. We must make it politically untenable for the government to maintain their position of inaction – the charges against the Cairns couple must be dropped immediately. We must raise our voices for the repeal of all anti-abortion laws. No-one should ever again have to face the trauma of the young couple in Cairns are facing – for making a decision that is every woman’s right to choose.

Repeal all anti-abortion laws!

Bligh claims that there would not be the support in parliament for the repeal of the laws. This is yet another excuse for her government’s unwillingness to stand up to the anti-abortion minority. It is a claim based on the assumption that the ALP would allow its MP’s a conscience vote and to vote against ALP policy – which is for the repeal of the laws. Like anyone, MP’s have the right to their views, but they have no right to impose their views on women’s bodies via the law.

Bligh has gone so far as to claim that any attempt to repeal the laws could create a situation that is “worse” for women. This is the same excuse that so called “pro-choice” politicians have used for years – but it is beyond belief that Bligh would continue to use this excuse now – when a young woman’s house has been raided, firebombed and she and her partner face years in prison. There is a real danger that the situation for QLD women could get worse – if these charges are upheld. It would mean the access to abortion that does exist will be seriously threatened. Women who can’t afford to travel to other states to access abortion services could be forced to resort to unsafe practices.

Free, safe, accessible abortion on demand

Currently South Australia is the only Australian state where women can access free (bulk-billed) abortion. In Queensland, the cost of an abortion ranges from around $370 up front (for concession cardholders in Brisbane) to $810 in Cairns for abortions under 12 weeks. The costs rise steeply every two weeks after 12 weeks gestation. Only $260 is available on the Medicare rebate — around $100 less than for comparable operations. On top of the costs for the procedure itself, there are also the associated costs — time off work, childcare and travel expenses, which are particularly an issue for women in regional and rural areas. In Queensland, for example, there are only 13 abortion clinics, and a number of them operate using the same doctors — some regional clinics open only once a fortnight

RU486
Women should have easy access to surgical and medical abortion services and information. Those who are opposed to women accessing safe abortion have campaigned against the abortion drug, RU486 – creating a scare campaign about the safety of the drug. This misinformation campaign was partially defeated in 2006 when the ban on RU486 was lifted after the regulation of the drug was returned to the Therapeutic Drugs Administration (TGA). Despite this the drug has not been available because no pharmaceutical company had applied to import and distribute the drug – in part due to the threat of a boycott by the anti-abortion movement of any company that imports the drug. This has left it to individual medical practitioners to jump through the hoops themselves by applying directly to the TGA. This has meant that women in Australia still don’t have access to the drug.