Today, Liberal MLC Ben Hood introduced the Termination of Pregnancy (Terminations and Live Births) Amendment Bill 2024 (Bill) to the South Australian Parliament.
The Bill includes provisions to protect the lives of healthy viable babies after 28 weeks, in a situation where the mother decides to terminate her pregnancy. The survival rate for infants at this gestational age is 96%, and the woman can either keep the baby or place it up for adoption. The key difference between what is being proposed in the Bill and the current law, is that under the current law, a woman can in certain circumstances terminate her pregnancy up until full term by ending the life of the baby through abortion, whereas under the Bill, if the pregnancy has advanced past 27 weeks and 6 days, she can only terminate it by prematurely delivering the baby alive. The option in the Bill not only preserves the life of the child, but is also medically safer for the woman.
Since the passing of South Australia’s Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021 there have been 45 late-term abortions after 22 weeks and 6 days on healthy babies for psychosocial reasons (i.e. not for reasons relating to the physical health of the mother or baby).
Laws in Australia, including South Australia, which effectively allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, are out of step with community expectations, with common practice in other jurisdictions, with medical knowledge of foetal viability and pain, and with medical advances including progress in neonatal care.
Women’s Forum Australia is deeply concerned about the impact of abortion on women’s health and well-being, particularly late-term abortion. Not only do late-term abortions present greater physical and psychological health risks to women, they are often sought by women with limited support systems who are in particularly vulnerable circumstances, including situations of domestic violence. Late-term abortion puts vulnerable women at even greater risk and does nothing to address the underlying issues that they are facing.
With the sex of the baby generally not reported until the 20-week scan, late-term abortion also puts baby girls at greater risk from the abhorrent practice of sex-selective abortion. As many as 200 million girls are missing worldwide because of discriminatory practices like sex-selective abortion, and there is evidence that the practice is occurring within some ethnic communities in Australia where girls are valued less than boys.
Women’s Forum Australia believes the Bill is a positive step forward for women and their babies. Rather than simply providing women with the "choice" of late-term abortion, the South Australian Government and community must do more to address the underlying issues faced by women seeking late-term abortions and provide them and their children with genuine, compassionate solutions that are not going to expose them to further harm.
As Mr Hood stated today in his powerful speech: “This is not about forcing anyone into motherhood. It is about recognising that once a child has reached viability, and in its third trimester, we are responsible for protecting that life. The bill ensures that the mother's decision to end her pregnancy is respected, but it is also that the child has an opportunity to live.”
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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